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THE CIVIL WAR 



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UNITED STATES HISTORY 

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THE CIVIL WAR 

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From an ambrotype taken for Marcus L. Ward (afterward Governor of New Jersey) 
in Springfield, III., May 20, j86o, two days after Mr. Lincoln's first nomination. 



CENTURY READINGS IN UNITED STATES HISTORY 



THE CIVIL WAR 



EDITED BY 



CHARLES L. BARSTOW 




NEW YORK 
THE CENTURY CO. 

1912 






Copyright, 191 2, by 
The Century Co. 



Published May, igi2 



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CONTENTS 

Washington on the Eve of the War page 

Charles P. Stone 3 

The First Step in th£ War . . Stephen D. Lee 19 

Going to the Front .... Warren L. Goss 28 

War Preparations in the North Jacob D. Cox 36 

The First Battle of Bull Run G. T. Beauregard 47 

The Capture of Fort Donelson Lew Wallace 60 

The Battle of Shiloh . . . Ulysses S. Grant 75 

The First Fight of Iron-Clads John T. Wood 84 

The Opening of the Lower Mississippi , 

David D. Porter 98 

The Peninsular Campaign . . George B. McClellan . . .113 
Stonewall Jackson in the Shenandoah 

John D. Imboden 120 

The Seven Days' Fighting . . Fits John Porter 130 

Passages from Lincoln 142 

Richmond Scenes in '62 . . . Constance C. Harrison . . .150 

The Alabama and the Kearsarge 161 

CusHiNG AND THE Ram Albemarle Tlicodove Roosevelt .... 173 
Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg General Adam Badeau . . . 180 
Strategy of the Last Year . . William T. Sherman . . .185 

The Surrender Horace Porter 196 

The Fourteenth of April . . Helen Nicolay 210 



Vll 



THE CIVIL WAR 



BATTLE-HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC 

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord : 
He is trampling out the vintage vi'here the grapes of wrath are stored; 
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword : 
His truth is marching on. 

I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps ; 
They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps ; 
I can read his righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps. 
His day is marching on. 

I have read a fiery gospel, writ in burnished rows of steel : 
" As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal ; 
Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel, 
Since God is marching on." 

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat ; 
He is sifting out the hearts of men before his judgment-seat: 
Oh! be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet! 
Our God is marching on. 

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea. 
With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me: 
As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free, 
While God is marching on. 

Julia Ward Howe. 



THE CIVIL WAR 



WASHINGTON ON THE EVE OF THE WAR 
By Charles P. Stone, Brigadier-General, U. S. V. 

All who knew Washington in 
the days of December, i860, know 
what thoughts reigned in the minds 
of thinking men. Whatever their 
daily occupations, they went about 
them with their thoughts always 
bent on the possible disasters of the 
near future. The country was in 
a curious and alarming condition : 
South Carolina had already passed 
an ordinance of secession, and 
other States were preparing to 
follow her lead. The only regular troops near the capi- 
tal of the country were 300 or 400 marines at the marine 
barracks, and 3 officers and 53 men of ordnance at the 
Washington arsenal. 

What force would the Government have at its disposal 
in the Federal District for the simple maintenance of order 
in case of need ? Evidently but a handful ; and as to call- 
ing thither promptly any regular troops, that was out of the 
question, since they had already all been distributed by the 
Southern sympathizers to the distant frontiers of the Indian 

3 




The Civil War 




Uniform of 
the Poto- 



country, — • Texas, Utah, New Mexico, Oregon, and Wash- 
ington Territory. Months would have been necessary to 
concentrate at Washington, in that season, a 
force of three thousand regular troops. Even 
had President Buchanan been desirous of 
bringing troops to the capital, the feverish con- 
dition of the public mind would, as the execu- 
tive believed, have been badly affected by any 
movement of the kind, and the approaching 
crisis might have been precipitated. I saw at 
once that the only force which could be read- 
ily made of service was a volunteer force 
raised from among the well-disposed men of 
mac Light the District, and that this must be organized, 
" ^" ^^' if at all, under the old law of 1799. By 
consultation with gentlemen well acquainted with the va- 
rious classes of Washington society, I endeavored to learn 
what proportion of the able-bodied population 
could be counted on to sustain the Government 
should it need support from the armed and or- 
ganized citizens. 

On the 31st of December, i860, Lieutenant- 
General Scott, general-in-chief of the army 
who had his headquarters in New York), 
was in Washington. The President, at last 
thoroughly alarmed at the results of continued 
concessions to secession, had summoned him 
for consultation. On the evening of that day 
I went to pay my respects to my old com- 
mander, and was received by him at Worm- 
ley's Hotel. He chatted pleasantly with me for a few min- 
utes, recalling past service in the Mexican War, etc. ; and 




Uniform of 
the National 
Rifles. 



Washington on the Eve of War 5 

when the occasion presented itself, I remarked that I was 
glad to see him in good spirits, for that proved to me 
that he took a more cheerful view of the state of public 
affairs than he had on his arrival — more cheerful than 
we of Washington had dared to take during the past few 
days. 

" Yes, my young friend," said the general, " I feel more 
cheerful about the affairs of the country than I did this 
morning; for I believe that a safer policy than has hith- 
erto been followed will now be adopted. The policy of 
entire conciliation, which has so far been pursued, would 
soon have led to ruin. We are now in such a state that a 
policy of pure force would precipitate a crisis for which we 
are not prepared. A mixed policy of force and concilia- 
tion is now necessary, and I believe it will be adopted and 
carried out." He then looked at his watch, rose, and 
said : " I must be with the President in a quarter of an 
hour," and ordered his carriage. He walked up and down 
the dining-room, but suddenly stopped and faced me, say- 
ing: "How is the feeling in the District of Columbia? 
What proportion of the population would sustain the Gov- 
ernment by force, if necessary? " 

" It is my belief, General," I replied, " that two-thirds 
of the fighting stock of this population would sustain the 
Government in defending itself, if called upon. But they 
are uncertain as to what can be done or what the Govern- 
ment desires to have done, and they have no rallying- 
point." 

The general walked the room again in silence. The car- 
riage came to the door, and I accompanied him toward it. 
As he was leaving, he turned suddenly, looked me in the 
face, placed his hand on my shoulder, and said : 



The Civil War 



" These people have no rallying-point. Make yourself 
that rallying-point ! " 

The next day I was commissioned by the President colo- 
nel in the staff and Inspector-General of the District of 
Columbia. I was mustered into the service of the United 
States from the 2d day of January, 1861, on the special 
requisition of the general-in-chief, and thus was the first 







Headquarters of General Winfield Scott, Washington. 

of two and a half millions called into the military service of 
the Government to defend it against secession. 

I immediately entered upon my duties, commencing by 
inspections in detail of the existing organizations of volun- 
teers. The Potomac Light Infantry company, of George- 
town, I found fairly drilled, well armed, and, from care- 
ful information, it seemed to me certain that the majority 
of its members could be depended upon in case of need, but 
not all of them. 



Washington on the Eve of War 7 

On the 2d of January, I met, at the entrance of the Met- 
ropoHtan Hotel, Captain Schaeffer, of the " National 
Rifles " of Washington, and I spoke to him about his com- 
pany, which was remarkable for drill. Schaeffer had been 
a lieutenant in the Third United States Artillery, and was 
an excellent drillmaster. 

He had evidently not yet heard of my appointment as 
Inspector-General, and he replied to my complimentary re- 
marks on his company: 

" Yes, it is a good company, and I suppose I shall soon 
have to lead it to the banks of the Susquehanna! " 

"Why so?" I asked. 

"Why! To guard the frontier of Maryland and help 
to keep the Yankees from coming down to coerce the 
South ! " 

I said to him quietly that I thought it very imprudent in 
him, an employee of the Department of the Interior and 
captain of a company of District of Columbia volunteers, 
to use such expressions. He replied that most of his men 
were Marylanders, and would have to defend Maryland. 
I told him that he would soon learn that he had been im- 
prudent, and advised him to think more seriously of his 
position, but did not inform him of my appointment, which 
he would be certain to learn the following morning from 
the newspapers. 

It must be admitted that this was not a very cheerful be- 
ginning. 

On inspecting the " National Rifles," I found that 
Schaeffer had more than 100 men on his rolls, and was 
almost daily adding to the number, and that he had a full 
supply of rifles with 200 rounds of ball cartridges, two 
mountain howitzers with harness and carriages, a supply 



8 The Civil War 

of sabers and of revolvers and ammunition, all drawn from 
the United States arsenal. I went to the chief of ordnance, 
to learn how it was that this company of riflemen happened 
to be so unusually armed; and I found at the ordnance 
office that an order had been given by the late Secretary of 
War (John B, Floyd) directing the chief of ordnance to 
cause to be issued to Captain Schaeffer " all the ordnance 
and ordnance stores that he might require for his com- 
pany ! " I ascertained also that Floyd had nominated 
Captain Schaeffer to the President for the commission of 
major in the District of Columbia militia, and that the 
commission had already been sent to the President for his 
signature. 

I immediately presented the matter to the new Secretary 
of War (Joseph Holt), and procured from him two or- 
ders, — one, an order to the chief of ordnance to issue no 
arms to any militia or volunteers in the District of Colum- 
bia unless the requisition should be countersigned by the 
Inspector-General; the other, an order that all commissions 
issued to officers of the District of Columbia should be 
sent to the Inspector-General for delivery. 

An office was assigned me in the War Department, con- 
venient to the army-registers and near the Secretary of 
War, who kindly gave orders that I should at all times be 
admitted to his cabinet without waiting, and room was 
made for me in the office of Major-General Weightman, 
the senior major-general of the District, where each day I 
passed several hours in order to confer with him, and to be 
able promptly to obtain his authority for any necessary 
order. 

Captain Schaeffer entered my office one. day with the air 
of an injured man, holding in his hand a requisition for 



Washington on the Eve of War 9 

arms and ammunition, and saying, that, on presenting it at 
the ordnance office, he had been informed that no arms 
could be issued to him without my approval. I informed 
him that that was certainly correct, and that the order of 
the Secretary of War was general. I told him that he had 
already in his possession more rifles than were required 
for a company, and that he could have no more. He then 
said, sulkily, that with his company he could easily take 
the arms he wanted. I asked him, " Where ? " and he re- 
plied : 

" You have only four soldiers guarding the Columbian 
armory, where there are plenty of arms, and those four 
men could not prevent my taking them." 

" Ah ! " I replied, " in what part of the armory are those 
arms kept ? " He said they were on the upper floor, which 
was true. 

" Well," said I, " you seem to be well informed. H you 
think it best, just try taking the arms by force. I assure 
you that if you do you shall be fired on by one hundred and 
fifty soldiers as you come out of the armory." 

The fact was, that only two enlisted men of ordnance 
were on duty at the Columbian armory, so feeble was the 
military force at the time. But Barry's battery had just 
arrived at the Washington arsenal, and on my application 
General Scott had ordered the company of sappers and 
miners at West Point to come to Washington to guard the 
armory ; but they had not yet arrived. The precautions 
taken in ordering them were thus clearly proved advis- 
able. 

The time had evidently come to disarm Captain Schaef- 
fer; and when he reached his office after leaving mine, he 
found there an order directing him to deposit in the Colum- 



10 The Civil War 

bian amiory, before sunset on that day, the two howitzers 
with their carriages which he had in his possession, as well 
as the sabers and revolvers, as these weapons formed no 
part of the proper armament of a company of riflemen. 
He was taken by surprise, and had not time to call to- 
gether men enough to resist; so that nothing was left to 
him but to comply with the order. He obeyed it, well 
knowing that if he did not I was prepared to take the guns 
from his armory by means of other troops. 

Having obeyed, he presented himself again in my office, 
and before he had time to speak I informed him that I had 
a commission of major for his name. He was much 
pleased, and said : *' Yes, I heard that I had been ap- 
pointed." I then handed him a slip of paper on which I 
had written out the form of oath which the old law re- 
quired to be taken by officers, that law never having been 
repealed, and said to him : 

" Here is the form of oath you are to take. You will 
find a justice of the peace on the next floor. Please qual- 
ify, sign the form in duplicate, and bring both to me. One 
will be filed with your letter of acceptance, the other will 
be filed in the clerk's office of the Circuit Court of the Dis- 
trict." 

He took the paper with a sober look, and stood near my 
table several minutes looking at the form of oath and turn- 
ing to paper over, while I, apparently very busy with my 
papers, was observing him closely. I then said : 

" Ah, Schaeffer, have you already taken the oath ? " 

" No," said he. 

" Well, please be quick about it, as I have no time to 
spare." 

He hesitated, and said slowly : 



Washington on the Eve of War 1 1 

" In ordinary times I would not mind taking it, but in 
these times — " 

" Ah ! " said I, " you decHne to accept your commission 
of major. Very weh ! " and I returned his commission to 
the drawer and locked it in. 

" Oh, no," said Schaeffer, " I want the commission." 

*' But, sir, you cannot have it. Do you suppose that, in 
these times, which are not, as you say, ' ordinary times,' I 
would think of delivering a commission of field-officer to 
a man who hesitates about taking the oath of office? Do 
you think that the Government of the United States is 
stupid enough to allow a man to march armed men about 
the Federal District under its authority, when that man 
hesitates to take the simple oath of office? No, sir, you 
cannot have this commission ; and more than that, I now 
inform you that you hold no office in the District of Co- 
lumbia volunteers." 

" Yes, I do ; I am captain, and have my commission as 
such, signed by the President and delivered to me by the 
major-general." 

" I am aware that such a paper was delivered to you, 
but you failed legally to accept it." 

" I wrote a letter of acceptance to the adjutant-general, 
and forwarded it through the major-general." 

" Yes, I am aware that you did ; but I know also that 
you failed to inclose in that letter, according to law, the 
form of oath required to accompany all letters of accept- 
ance; and on the register of the War Department, while 
the issuance of your commission is recorded, the acceptance 
is not recorded. You have never legally accepted your 
commission, and it is now too late. The oath of a man who 
hesitates to take it will not now be accepted." 



12 The Civil War 

So Captain Schaeffer left the " National Rifles," and 
with him left the secession members of the company. I 
induced quite a number of true men to join its ranks; a 
new election was ordered, and a strong, loyal man (Lieu- 
tenant Smead of the 2d Artillery) was elected its captain. 
Smead was then on duty in the office of the Coast Survey, 
and I easily procured from the War Department permis- 
sion for him to accept the position. 

If my information was correct, the plan had been formed 
for seizing the public departments at the proper moment 
and obtaining possession of the seals of the Government. 
Schaeffer's part, with the battalion he was to form, was to 
take possession of the Treasury Department for the ben- 
efit of the new Provisional Government. Whatever may 
have been the project, it was effectually foiled. 

I think that the country has never properly appreciated 
the services of the District of Columbia volunteers. It 
certainly has not appreciated the difficulties surmounted in 
their organization. Those volunteers were citizens of the 
Federal District, and therefore had not at that time, nor 
have they ever had since, the powerful stimulant of State 
feeling, nor the powerful support of a State government, 
a State's pride, a State press to set forth and make much 
of their services. They did their duty quietly, and they did 
it well and faithfully. Although not mustered into the 
service and placed on pay until after the fatal day when 
the flag was fired upon at Sumter, yet they rendered great 
service before that time in giving confidence to the Union 
men, to members of the national legislature, and also to 
the President in the knowledge that there was at least a 
small force at its disposition ready to respond at any mo- 
ment to his call. It should also be remembered of them, 



Washington on the Eve of War 13 

that the first troops mustered into the service were sixteen 
companies of these volunteers; and that, during the dark 
days when Washington was cut off from communication 
with the North, when railway bridges were burned and 
tracks torn up, when the Potomac was blockaded, these 
troops were the only reliance of the Government for guard- 
ing the public departments, for preserving order and for 
holding the bridges and other outposts ; that these were 
the troops which recovered possession of the railway from 
Washington to Annapolis Junction and made practicable 
the reopening of communications. They also formed the 
advance guard of the force which first crossed the Potomac 
into Virginia and captured the city of Alexandria. 

Moreover, these were the troops which insured .the reg- 
ular inauguration on the steps of the capitol of the consti- 
tutionally elected President. I firmly believe that without 
them Mr. Lincoln would never have been inaugurated. I 
believe that tumults would have been created, during which 
he would have been killed, and that we should have found 
ourselves engaged in a struggle, without preparation, and 
without a recognized head at the capital. In this I may 
be mistaken, of course, as any other man may be mistaken; 
but it was then my opinion, when I had many sources of 
information at my command, and it remains my opinion 
now, when, after the lapse of many years and a somewhat 
large experience, I look back in cool blood upon those days 
of political madness. 

One day, after the official declaration of the election of 
Mr. Lincoln, my duties called me to the House of Repre- 
sentatives; and while standing in the lobby waiting for 
the member with whom I had business, I conversed with 
a distinguished officer from New York. We were lean- 



14 The Civil War 

ing against the sill of a window which overlooked the steps 
of the capitol, where the President-elect usually stands to 
take the oath of office. The gentleman grew excited as 
we discussed the election of Mr. Lincoln, and pointing to 
the portico he exclaimed : 

" He will never be inaugurated on those steps ! " 

" Mr. Lincoln," I replied, " has been constitutionally- 
elected President of the United States. You may be sure 
that, if he lives until the fourth day of March, he will be 
inaugurated on those steps." 

As I spoke, I noticed for the first time how perfectly 
the wings of the capitol flanked the steps in question; 
and on the morning of the 4th of March I saw to it 
that each window of the two wings was occupied by two 
riflemen. 

I received daily numerous communications from various 
parts of the country, informing me of plots to prevent the 
arrival of the President-elect at the capital. These warn- 
ings came from St. Louis, from Chicago, from Cincinnati, 
from Pittsburgh, from New York, from Philadelphia, and 
especially from Baltimore. Every morning I reported to 
General Scott on the occurrences of the night and the in- 
formation received by the morning's mail ; and every even- 
ing I rendered an account of the day's work and received 
instructions for the night. General Scott also received 
numerous warnings of danger to the President-elect, which 
he would give to me to study and compare. Many of the 
communications were anonymous and vague. But on the 
other hand, many were from calm and wise men, one of 
whom became, shortly afterward, a cabinet minister; one 
was a railway president, another a distinguished ex-gover- 
nor of a State, etc. Li every case where the indications 



Washington on the Eve of War 15 

were distinct, they were followed up to learn if real danger 
existed. 

So many clear indications pointed to Baltimore, that 
three good detectives of the New York police force were 
constantly employed there. These men reported frequently 
to me, and their statements were constantly compared with 
the information received from independent sources. 

As President Lincoln approached the capital, it became 
certain that desperate attempts would be made to prevent 
his arriving there. To be thoroughly informed as to what 
might be expected in Baltimore, I directed a detective to 
be constantly near the chief of police and to keep up rela- 
tions with him; while two others were instructed to watch, 
without the knowledge and independent of the chief of 
police. The officer who was near the chief of police re- 
ported regularly, until near the last, that there was no dan- 
ger in Baltimore; but the others discovered a band of des- 
perate men plotting for the destruction of Mr. Lincoln 
during his passage through the city, and by affiliating with 
them, these detectives obtained the details of the plot. 

Mr. Lincoln passed through Baltimore in advance of the 
time announced for the journey (in accordance with advice 
given by me to Mr. Seward and carried by Mr. Frederick 
W. Seward to Mr. Lincoln), and arrived safe at Wash- 
ington on the morning of the day he was to have passed 
through Baltimore. But the plotting to prevent his inau- 
guration continued; and there was only too good rea- 
son to fear that an attempt would be made against his life 
during the passage of the inaugural procession from Wil- 
lard's hotel, where Mr. Lincoln lodged, to the capitol. 

On the afternoon of the 3d of March, General Scott held 
a conference at his headquarters, there being present his 



i6 The Civil War 

staff, General Sumner, and myself, and then was arranged 
the program of the procession. President Buchanan was 
to drive to Willard's hotel, and call upon the President- 
elect. The two were to ride in the same carriage, between 
double files of a squadron of the District of Columbia cav- 
alry. The company of sappers and miners were to march 
in front of the presidential carriage, and the infantry and 
riflemen of the District of Columbia were to follow it. Ri- 
fle-men in squads were to be placed on the roofs of certain 
commanding houses which I had selected, along Pennsyl- 
vania Avenue, with orders to watch the windows on the 
opposite side and to fire upon them in case any attempt 
should be made to fire from those windows on the presi- 
dential carriage. The small force of regular cavalry 
which had arrived was to guard the side-street crossings 
of Pennsylvania Avenue, and to move from one to another 
during the passage of the procession. A battalion of Dis- 
trict of Columbia troops were to be placed near the steps of 
the capitol, and riflemen in the windows of the wings of the 
capitol. On the arrival of the presidential party at the 
capitol, the troops were to be stationed so as to return in 
the same order after the ceremony. 

To illustrate the state of uncertainty in which we were 
at that time concerning men, I may here state that the 
lieutenant-colonel, military secretary of the general-in- 
chief, who that afternoon recorded the conclusions of the 
general in conference, and who afterwards wrote out for 
me the instructions regarding the disposition of troops, 
resigned his commission that very night, and departed for 
the South, where he joined the Confederate army. 

During the night of the 3d of March, notice was brought 
me that an attempt would be made to blow up the platform 



Washington on the Eve of War 17 

on which the President would stand to take the oath of 
office. I immediately placed men under the steps, and at 
daybreak a trusted battalion of District troops (if I remem- 
ber rightly, it was the National Guard, under Colonel 
Tait) formed in a semicircle at the foot of the great stair- 
way, and prevented all entrance from without. When the 
crowd began to assemble in front of the portico, a large 




The inauguration of Lincoln. 

number of policemen in plain clothes were scattered 
through the mass to observe closely, to place themselves 
near any person who might act suspiciously, and to strike 
down any hand which might raise a weapon. 

At the appointed hour, Mr. Buchanan, was escorted to 
Willard's hotel, which he entered. There I found a num- 



l8. The Civil War 

ber of mounted " marshals of the day," and posted them 
around the carriage, within the cavalry guard. The two 
Presidents were saluted by the troops as they came out of 
the hotel and took their places in the carriage. The pro- 
cession started. During the march to the capitol I rode 
near the carriage, and by an apparently clumsy use of my 
spurs managed to keep the horses of the cavalry in an un- 
easy state, so that it would have been difficult for even a 
good marksman to get an aim at one of the inmates of the 
carriage between the prancing horses. 

After the inaugural ceremony, the President and the ex- 
President were escorted in the same order to the White 
House. Arrived there, Mr. Buchanan walked to the door 
with Mr. Lincoln, and there bade him welcome to the 
House and good-morning. The infantry escort formed in 
line from the gate of the White House to the house of Mr. 
Ould, whither Mr. Buchanan drove, and the cavalry es- 
corted his carriage. The infantry line presented arms to 
the ex-President as he passed, and the cavalry escort sa- 
luted as he left the carriage and entered the house. Mr. 
Buchanan turned on the steps, and gracefully acknowledged 
the salute. The District of Columbia volunteers had given 
to President Lincoln his first military salute and to Mr. 
Buchanan his last. 




Confederate battle-flag. 



THE FIRST STEP IN THE WAR 
By Stephen D. Lee, Lieutenant-General, C. S. A. 

In the month of December, i860, 
the South itself had no more real- 
izing sense than the North of the 
magnitude of events about to be 
entered into so lightly. Even the 
Southern leaders did not realize 
that there could be any obstacle to 
" peaceable secession." Many at 
the North were willing to " let the 
wayward sisters depart in peace." 
Only a few on either side expected that blood would be 
shed. When, in the first Confederate Congress at Mont- 
gomery, one prudent debater exclaimed, " What if we really 
have a war?" the general response was, "There will be 
no war." " But," he persisted, " if there is a war, what 
are our resources? " and when one man in reply expressed 
his conviction that, if the worst came, the South could put 
fifty thousand men into the field, he was looked upon as an 
enthusiast. The expectation of ** peaceable secession " 
was the delusion that precipitated matters in the South ; 
and it was on this expectation, when the crisis came, that 
South Carolina seceded. Her first step was to organize 
troops and assert the sovereignty in which she believed, by 
the occupation of her territory. 

The feeling of the Confederate authorities was that a 

19 



20 The Civil War 

peaceful issue would finally be arrived at; but they had a 
fixed determination to use force, if necessary, to occupy 
Fort Sumter. They did not desire or intend to take the 




Fort Johnson. Fort Sumter. 

Iron-clad battery, Cumming's Point. Fort Moultrie. 

Bursting of the signal-shell from Fort Johnson over Fort Sumter. 

initiative, if it could be avoided. So soon, however, as it 
was clearly understood that the authorities at Washington 
had abandoned peaceful views and would assert the power 
of the United States to supply Fort Sumter, General Beau- 
regard, the commander of the Confederate forces at 
Charleston, in obedience to the command of his Govern- 
ment at Montgomery, proceeded to reduce the fort. His 
arrangements were about complete, and on April nth he 
demanded of Major Anderson the evacuation of Fort Sum- 
ter. He offered to transport Major Anderson and his 
command to any port in the United States ; and to allow 
him to move out of the fort with compariy arms and prop- 
erty, and all private property, and to salute his flag in 
lowering it. This demand was delivered to Major Ander- 
son at 3 :45 p. m., by two aides of General Beauregard, 
James Chestnut, Jr., and myself. At 4:30 p. m. he handed 
us his reply, refusing to accede to the demand ; but added, 
" Gentlemen, if you do not batter the fort to pieces about 
us, we shall be starved out in a few days." 



The First Step in the War 



21 



The reply of Major Anderson was put in General Beau- 
regard's hands at 5:15 p. m., and he was also told of this 
informal remark. Anderson's reply and remark were com- 
municated to the Confederate authorities at Montgomery. 
The Secretary of War, L. P. Walker, replied to Beauregard 
as follows : 

Do not desire needlessly to bombard Fort Sumter. If Major 
Anderson will state the time at which, as indicated by him, he 
will evacuate, and agree that in the meantime he will not use his 
guns against us, unless ours should be employed against Fort 
Sumter, you are authorized thus to avoid the effusion of blood. 
If this, or its equivalent, be refused, reduce the fort as your judg- 
ment decides to be most practicable. 

The same aides here a second communication to Major 
Anderson, based on the above instructions, which was 




Fort Sumter after the bombardment. 



placed in his hands at 12:45 a. m., April 12th. His reply 
indicated that he would evacuate the fort on the 15th, pro- 
vided he did not in the meantime receive contradictory in- 



22 The Civil War 

striictions from his Government, or additional supplies, but 
he declined to agree not to open his guns upon the Con- 
federate troops, in the event of any hostile demonstration 
on their part against his flag. Major Anderson made 
every possible effort to retain the aides till daylight, making 
one excuse and then another for not replying. Finally, at 
3:15 A.M., he delivered his reply. In accordance with 
their instructions, the aides read it and, finding it unsatis- 
factory, gave Major Anderson this notification: 

Fort Sumter, S. C, April 12, 1861, 3.20 a. m. 

Sir: By authority of Brigadier-General Beauregard, command- 
ing the Provisional Forces of the Confederate States, we have the 
honor to notify you that he will open the fire of his batteries on 
Fort Sumter in one hour from this time. We have the honor to 
be very respectfully. 

Your obedient servants, 

James Chestnut, Jr., Aidc-dc-Camp. 
Stephen D. Lee, 
Captain C. S. Army, Aidc-dc-Camp. 

The above note was written in one of the casemates of 
the fort, and in the presence of Major Anderson and sev- 
eral of his officers. On receiving it, he was much affected. 
He seemed to realize the full import of the consequences, 
and the great responsibility of his position. Escorting us 
to the boat at the wharf, he cordially pressed our hands in 
farewell, remarking, "If we never meet in this world again, 
God grant that we may meet in the next." 

The boat containing the two aides and also . Roger A. 
Pryor, of Virginia, and A. R. Chisolm, of South Carolina, 
who were also members of General Beauregard's staff, went 
immediately to Fort Johnson on James Island, and the 



The First Step in the War 23 

order to fire the signal gun was given to Captain George S. 
James, commanding the battery at that point. It was then 
4 A. M. Captain James at once aroused his command, and 
arranged to carry out the order. He was a great admirer of 
Roger A. Pryor, and said to him, " You are the only man to 
whom I would give up the honor of firing the first gun of 
the war " ; and he offered to allow him to fire it. Pryor, on 
receiving the offer, was very much agitated. With a husky 
voice he said, " I could not fire the first gun of the war." 
His manner was almost similar to that of Major Anderson 
as we left him a few moments before on the wharf of Fort 
Sumter. Captain James would allow no one else but him- 
self to fire the gun. 

The boat with the aides of General Beauregard left Fort 
Johnson before arrangements were complete for the firing 
of the gun, and laid on its oars, about one-third the distance 
between the fort and Sumter, there to witness the firing of 
" the first gun of the war " between the States. It was 
fired from a ten-inch mortar at 4:30 a. m., April 12th, 1861. 
Captain James was a skilful officer, and the firing of the 
shell was a success. It burst immediately over the fort, ap- 
parently about one hundred feet above. The firing of the 
mortar woke the echoes from every nook and corner of the 
harbor, and in this the dead hour of night, before dawn, that 
shot was a sound of alarm that brought every soldier in the 
harbor to his feet, and every man, woman and child in the 
city of Charleston from their beds. A thrill went through 
the whole city. It was felt that the Rubicon was passed. 
No one thought of going home; unused as their ears were 
to the appalling sounds, or the vivid flashes from the bat- 
teries, they stood for hours fascinated with horror. After 
the second shell the different batteries opened their fire on 



24 



The Civil War 



Fort Sumter, and by 4 :45 a. m. the firing was general and 
regular. It was a hazy, foggy morning. About daylight, 
the boat with the aides reached Charleston, and they re- 
ported to General Beauregard. 

Fort Sumter did not respond with her guns till 7 :30 a. m. 
The firing from this fort, during the entire bombardment, 




The Seventh Regiment leaving New York for the iiduu 

was slow and deliberate, and marked with little accuracy. 
The firing continued without intermission during the 12th, 
and more slowly during the night of the 12th and 13th. No 
material change was noticed till 8 a. m. on the 13th, when 
the barracks in Fort Sumter were set on fire by hot shot 
from the guns of Fort Moultrie. As soon as this was dis- 
covered, the Confederate batteries redoubled their efforts, 
to prevent the fire being extinguished. Fort Sumter fired 



The First Step in the War 25 

at little longer intervals, to enable the garrison to jfight the 
flames. This brave action, under such a trying ordeal, 
aroused great sympathy and admiration on the part of the 
Confederates for Major Anderson and his gallant garrison; 
this feeling was shown by cheers whenever a gun was fired 
from Sumter. It was shown also by loud reflections on 
the " men-of-war " outside the harbor. 

About 12:30 the flag-staff of Fort Sumter was shot 
down, but it was soon replaced. As soon as General Beau- 
regard heard that the flag was no longer flying, he sent 
three of his aides, William Porcher Miles, Roger A. Pryor, 
and myself, to offer, and also to see if Major Anderson 
would receive or needed, assistance, in subduing the flames 
inside the fort. Before we reached it, we saw the United 
States flag again floating over it, and began to return to the 
city. Before going far, however, we saw the Stars and 
Stripes replaced by a white flag. We turned about at once 
and rowed rapidly to the fort. We were directed, from an 
embrasure, not to go to the wharf, as it was mined, and the 
fire was near it. We were assisted through an embrasure 
and conducted to Major Anderson. Our mission being 
made known to him, he replied, " Present my compliments 
to General Beauregard, and say to him I thank him for his 
kindness, but need no assistance." He further remarked 
that he hoped the worst was over, that the fire had settled 
over the magazine, and, as it had not exploded, he thought 
the real danger was about over. Continuing, he said, " Gen- 
tlemen, do I understand you come direct from General 
Beauregard ? " The reply was in the affirmative. He 
then said, " Why ! Colonel Wigfall has just been here as 
an aide too, and by authority of General Beauregard, and 
proposed the same terms of evacuation offered on the nth 



26 The Civil War 

instant." We informed the major that we were not au- 
thorized to offer terms ; that we w^ere direct from General 
Beauregard, and that Colonel Wigfall, although an aide- 
de-camp to the general, had been detached, and had not seen 
the general for several days. Major Anderson at once 
stated, " There is a misunderstanding on my part, and I 
will at once run up my flag and open fire again." After 
consultation, we requested him not to do so, until the matter 
was explained to General Beauregard, and requested Ma- 
jor Anderson to reduce to writing his understanding 
with Colonel Wigfall, which he did. However, be- 
fore we left the fort, a boat arrived from Charleston, 
bearing Major D. R. Jones, assistant adjutant-general 
on General Beauregard's staff, who offered substantially the 
same terms to Major Anderson as those offered on the nth, 
and also by Colonel Wigfall, which were now accepted. 

Thus fell Fort Sumter, April 13th, 1861. At this time 
fire was still raging in the barracks, and settling steadily 
over the magazine. All egress was cut off except through 
the lower embrasures. Many shells from the Confederate 
batteries, which had fallen in the fort and had not exploded, 
as well as the hand-grenades used for defense, were ex- 
ploding as they were reached by the fire. The wind was 
driving the heat and smoke down into the fort and into 
the casemates, almost causing suffocation. Major Ander- 
son, his officers, and men were blackened by smoke and cin- 
ders, and showed signs of fatigue and exhaustion, from the 
trying ordeal through which they had passed. 

It was soon discovered, by conversation, that it was a 
bloodless battle; not a man had been killed or seriously 
wounded on either side during the entire bombardment of 
nearly forty hours. Congratulations were exchanged on so 



The First Step in the War 27 

happy a result. Major Anderson stated that he had in- 
structed his officers only to fire on the batteries and forts, 
and not to fire on private property. 

The terms of evacuation offered by General Beauregard 
were generous, and were appreciated by Major Anderson. 
The garrison was to embark on the 14th, after running up 
and saluting the United States flag, and to be carried to the 
United States fleet. A soldier killed during the salute was 
buried inside the fort, the new Confederate garrison uncov- 
ering during the impressive ceremonies. Major Anderson 
and his command left the harbor, bearing with them the 
respect and admiration of the Confederate soldiers. It 
was conceded that he had done his duty as a soldier holding 
a most delicate trust. 

This first bombardment of Sumter was but its " baptism 
of fire." During subsequent attacks by land and water, it 
was battered by the heaviest Union artillery. Its walls were 
completely crushed, but the tons of iron projectiles im- 
bedded in its ruins added strength to the inaccessible mass 
that surrounded it and made it impregnable. It was never 
taken, but the operations of General Sherman, after his 
march to the sea, compelled its evacuation, and the Stars 
and Stripes were again raised over it, April 14th, 1865. 



GOING TO THE FRONT. RECOLLECTIONS 
OF A PRIVATE 

By Warren Lee Goss 

Before I reached the point of eiiHsting, I had read and 
been " enthused " by General Dix's famous " shoot him on 
the spot " ^ dispatch ; I had attended flag-raisings, and had 
heard orators declaim of *' undying devotion to the Union." 
One speaker to whom I listened declared that " human life 
must be cheapened " ; but I never learned that he helped on 
the work experimentally. When men by the hundred 
walked soberly to the front and signed the enlistment pa- 
pers, he was not one of them. As I came out of the hall, 
with conflicting emotions, feeling as though I should have 
to go finally or forfeit my birthright as an American citi- 
zen, one of the orators who stood at the door, glowing with 
enthusiasm and patriotism, and shaking hands effusively 
with those who enlisted, said to me : 

1 January i8th, 1861, three days after he had entered on his duties 
as Secretary of the Treasury to President Buchanan, General Dix 
sent W. Hemphill Jones, chief clerk of one of the treasury bureaus, 
to the South, for the purpose of saving the revenue-cutters at New 
Orleans, Mobile, and Galveston. January 29th, Mr. Jones telegraphed 
from New Orleans that the captain of the revenue-cutter McClelland 
refused to obey the Secretary's orders. It was seven in the evening 
when the dispatch was received. Immediately, Secretary Dix wrote 
the following reply: "Treasury Department, January 29, 1861. Tell 
Lieutenant Caldwell to arrest Captain Breshwood, assume command of 
the cutter, and obey the order I gave through you. If Captain Bresh- 
wood, after arrest, undertakes to interfere with the command of the 
cutter, tell Lieutenant Caldwell to consider him as a mutineer, and treat 
him accordingly. If any one attempts to haul down the American flag, 
shoot him on the spot. John A. Dix, Secretary of the Treasury." 

28 



Going to the Front 29 

"Did you enlist?" 

"No," I said. "Did you?" 

" No ; they won't take me. I have got a lame leg and a 
widowed mother to take care of." 

I remember another enthusiast who was eager to enlist 
others. He declared that the family of no man who went 
to the front should suffer. After the war he was prom- 
inent among those who at town meeting voted to refund 
the money to such as had expended it to procure substitutes. 
He has, moreover, been fierce and uncompromising toward 
the ex-Confederates since the war. 

From the first I did not believe the trouble would blow 
over in " sixty days " ; nor did I consider eleven dollars a 
month, and the promised glory, large pay for the services 
of an able-bodied young man. 

It was the news that the 6th Massachusetts regiment had 
been mobbed by roughs on their passage through Baltimore 
which gave me the war fever. And yet when I read Gov- 
ernor John A. Andrew's instructions to have the hero mar- 
tyrs " preserved in ice and tenderly sent forward," some- 
how, though I felt the pathos of it, I could not reconcile 
myself to the ice. Ice in connection with patriotism did 
not give me agreeable impressions of war, and when I 
came to think of it, the stoning of the heroic " Sixth " 
did n't suit me ; it detracted from my desire to die a sol- 
dier's death, 

I lay awake all night thinking the matter over, with the 
" ice " and " brick-bats " before my mind. However, the 
fever culminated that night, and I resolved to enlist. 

" Cold chills " ran up and down my back as I got out of 
bed after the sleepless night, and shaved, preparatory to 
other desperate deeds of valor. I was twenty years of 



30 



The Civil War 



age, and when anything nniisiial was to be done, like fight- 
ing or courting, I shaved. 

With a nervous tremor convulsing my system, and my 
heart thumping like muffled drum-beats, I stood before the 
door of the recruiting-office, and, before turning the knob 
to enter, read and re-read the advertisement for recruits 
posted thereon, until I knew all its peculiarities. The 



<r^ 





^^^^^^ ^m^^M/, 



Facsimile of General Dix's dispatch. 

promised chances for " travel and promotion " seemed 
good, and I thought I might have made a mistake in con- 
sidering war so serious after all. "Chances for travel!" 
I must confess now, after four years of soldiering, that the 
" chances for travel " Were no myth ; but " promotion " 
was a little uncertain and slow. 

I was in no hurry to open the door. Though determined 
to enlist, I was half inclined to put it off awhile; I had a 
fluctuation of desires; I was faint-hearted and brave; I 
wanted to enlist, and yet — Here I turned the knob, and 



Going to the Front 31 

was relieved. I had been more prompt, with all my hesi- 
tation, than the officer in his duty ; he was n't in. Finally 
he came, and said: " What do you want, my boy? " " I 
want to enlist," I responded, blushing deeply with upwell- 
ing patriotism and bash fulness. Then the surgeon came to 
strip and examine me. In justice to myself, it must be 
stated that I signed the rolls without a tremor. It is com- 
mon to the most of humanity, I believe, that, when con- 
fronted with actual danger, men have less fear than in its 
contemplation. I will, however, make one exception in 
favor of the first shell I heard uttering its blood-curdling 
hisses, as though a steam locomotive were traveling the air. 
With this exception I have found the actual dangers of war 
always less terrible face to face than on the night before the 
battle. 

My first uniform was a bad fit: my trousers were too 
long by three or four inches; the flannel shirt was coarse 
and unpleasant, too large at the neck and too short else- 
where. The forage cap was an ungainly bag with paste- 
board top and leather visor ; the blouse was the only part 
which seemed decent ; while the overcoat made me feel like 
a little nubbin of corn in a large preponderance of husk. 
Nothing except " Virginia mud " ever took my ideas of 
military pomp quite so low. 

After enlisting I did not seem of so much consequence 
as I had expected. There was not so much excitement on 
account of my military appearance as I deemed justly my 
due. I was taught my facings, and at the time I thought 
the drillmaster needlessly fussy about shouldering, order- 
ing, and presenting arms. 

It takes a raw recruit some time to learn that he is not to 
think or suggest, but obey. Some never do learn. I ac- 



32 



The Civil War 



quired it at last, in humility and mud, but it was tough. 
Yet I doubt if my patriotism, during my first three weeks' 
drill, was quite knee-high. Drilling looks easy to a spec- 
tator, but it is n't. Old soldiers who read this will remem- 
ber their green recruithood and smile assent. After a time 
I had cut down my uniform so that I could see out of it, 
and had conquered the drill sufficiently to see through it. 
Then the word came : On to Washington ! 

Our company was quartered at a large hotel near the 
railway station in the town in which it had been recruited. 
Bunks had been fitted up within a part of the hotel but little 
used. We took our meals at the public table, and found 
fault with the style. Six months later we would have con- 
sidered ourselves aristocratic to 
have slept in the hotel stables 
with the meal-bin for a dining- 
table. One morning there was 
great excitement at the report 
that we were going to be sent 
to the front. Most of us ob- 
tained a limited pass and went 
to see our friends for the last 
time, returning the same night. 
Many of our schoolmates came 
in tears to say good-by. We 
took leave of them all with 
heavy hearts, for, lightly as I 
may here seem to treat the sub- 
ject, it was no light thing for a 
boy of twenty to start out for 
three years into the unknown dangers of a civil war. Our 
mothers — God bless them ! — had brought us something 




A mother's parting gift. 



Going to the Front 33 

good to eat, — pies, cakes, doughnuts, and jellies. It was 
one way in which a mother's heart found utterance. One 
old lady, in the innocence of her heart, brought her son an 
umbrella. We did not see anything particularly laughable 
about it at the time, but our drill-sergeant did. Finally we 
were ready to move; our tears were wiped away, our but- 
tons were polished, and our muskets were as bright as 
emery paper could make them. 

Just here let me name over the contents of my knapsack, 
as a fair sample of what all the volunteers started with. 
There were in it a pair of trousers, two pairs of drawers, a 
pair of thick boots, four pairs of stockings, four flannel 
shirts, a blouse, a looking-glass, a can of peaches, a bottle 
of cough-mixture, a button-stick, chalk, razor and strop, 
a Bible, a small volume of Shakespeare, and writing uten- 
sils. To its top was strapped a double woolen blanket and 
a rubber one. Many other things were left behind because 
of lack of room in or about the knapsack. 

Afterward, with hardened muscles, rendered athletic by 
long marches and invigorated by hardships, I could look 
back upon those days and smile, while carrying a knap- 
sack as light as my heart. That morning my heart was as 
heavy as my knapsack. At last the welcome orders came : 
" Prepare to open ranks ! Rear, open order, march ! 
Right dress ! Front ! Order arms ! Fix bayonets ! Stack 
arms ! Unsling knapsacks ! In place, rest ! " 

The tendency of raw soldiers at first is to overload them- 
selves. On the first long march the reaction sets in, and the 
recruit goes to the opposite extreme, not carrying enough, 
and thereby becoming dependent upon his comrades. Old 
soldiers preserve a happy medium. I have seen a new reg- 
iment start out with a lot of indescribable material, includ- 

3 



34 The Civil War 

ing sheet-iron stoves, and come back after a long march 
covered with more mud than baggage, stripped of every- 
thing except blankets, haversacks, canteens, muskets, and 
cartridge-boxes. 

At supper-time we were marched to the dining-barracks, 
where our bill of fare was beefsteak, coffee, wheat bread, 
and potatoes, but not a sign of milk or butter. It struck 
me as queer when I heard that the army was never provided 
with butter and milk. 

The next day we started for Washington, by rail. We 
marched through New York's crowded streets without 
awakening the enthusiasm we thought our due ; for we had 
read of the exciting scenes attending the departure of the 
New York 7th for Washington, on the day the 6th Massa- 
chusetts was mobbed in Baltimore, and also of the march 
of the 1 2th Massachusetts down Broadway on the 24th of 
July, when the regiment sang the then new and always 
thrilling lyric, " John Brown's Body." The following 
morning we took breakfast in Philadelphia, where we were 
attended by matrons and maidens, who waited upon us with 
thoughtful tenderness, as if they had been our own mothers 
and sweethearts instead of strangers. They feasted us and 
then filled our haversacks. God bless them! If we did 
not quite appreciate them then, we did afterward. After 
embarking on the cars at Philadelphia, the waving of hand- 
kerchiefs was less and less noticeable along the route. We 
arrived in Baltimore late at night; Union troops now con- 
trolled the city, and we marched through its deserted streets 
unmolested. On our arrival at Washington the next morn- 
ing, we were marched to barracks, dignified by the name 
of " Soldiers' Retreat," where each man received a half 
loaf of " soft-tack," as we had already begun to call wheat 



Going to the Front 



35 



bread, with a piece of " salt junk," about as big and tough 
as the heel of my government shoe, and a quart of coffee, — 
which constituted our breakfast. Our first day in Wash- 
ington was spent in shaving, washing, polishing our brasses 
and buttons, and cleaning-up for inspection. A day or two 




Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, in 1861. 

later we moved to quarters not far from the armory, look- 
ing out on the broad Potomac, within sight of Long Bridge 
and the city of Alexandria. 

Here and there the sound of a gun broke the serenity, 
but otherwise the quiet seemed inconsistent with the war 
preparations going on around us. 



WAR PREPARATIONS IN THE NORTH 

By Jacob D. Cox, Major-General, U. S. V., Ex-Gov- 
ernor OF Ohio, Ex-Secretary of the Interior 

The wonderful outburst of national feeling in the North 
in the spring of 1861 has always been a thrilling and almost 
supernatural thing to those who participated in it. The 
classic myth that the resistless terror which sometimes un- 
accountably seized upon an army was the work of the 
god Pan might seem to have its counterpart in the work 
of a national divinity rousing a whole people, not to terror, 
but to a sublime enthusiasm of self-devotion. To picture 
it as a whole is impossible. A new generation can only 
approximate a knowledge of the feelings of that time by 
studying in detail some separate scenes of the drama that 
had a continent for its stage. The writer can only tell 
what happened under his eye. The like was happening 
everywhere from Maine to Kansas. What is told is simply 
a type of the rest. 

On Friday, the twelfth day of April, 1861, the Senate 
of Ohio was in session, trying to go on in the ordinary 
routine of business, but with a sense of anxiety and strain 
which was caused by the troubled condition of national 
affairs. The passage of " ordinances of secession " by one 
after another of the Southern States, and even the as- 
sembling of a provisional Confederate government at Mont- 
gomery, had not wholly destroyed the hope that some 
peaceful way out of our troubles would be found; yet the 

36 



War Preparations in the North 37 

gathering of an army on the sands opposite Fort Sumter was 
really war, and if a hostile gun were fired, we knew it 
would mean the end of all effort at arrangement. Hoping 
almost against hope that blood would not be shed, and that 
the pageant of military array and of a secession govern- 
ment would pass by, we tried to give our thoughts to busi- 
ness ; but there was no heart in it, and the " morning hour " 
lagged, for we could not work in earnest, and we were un- 
willing to adjourn. 

Suddenly a senator came in from the lobby in an ex- 
cited way, and, catching the chairman's eye, exclaimed, 
" Mr. President, the telegraph announces that the seces- 
sionists are bombarding Fort Svimter ! " 

With most of us, the gloomy thought that civil war 
had begun in our own land overshadowed everything else ; 
this seemed too great a price to pay for any good, — a 
scourge to be borne only in preference to yielding what 
was to us the very groundwork of our republicanism, the 
right to enforce a fair interpretation of the Constitution 
through the election of President and Congress. 

The next day we learned that Major Anderson had sur- 
rendered, and the telegraphic news from all the Northern 
States showed plain evidence of a popular outburst of 
loyalty to the Union, following a brief moment of dismay. 
That was the period when the flag — The Flag — flew 
out to the wind from every housetop in our great cities, 
and when, in New York, wildly excited crowds marched 
the streets demanding that the suspected or the lukewarm 
should show the symbol of nationality as a committal to 
the country's cause. He that is not for us is against us, 
was the deep, instinctive feeling. 

Judge Thomas M. Key of Cincinnati, chairman of the 



38 The Civil War 

Judiciary Committee, was the recognized leader of the 
Democratic party in the Senate, and at an early hour moved 
an adjournment to the following Tuesday, in order, as he 
said, that the senators might have the opportunity to go 
home and consult their constituents in the perilous crisis 
of public affairs. No objection was made to the adjourn- 
ment, and the representatives took a similar recess. All 
were in a state of most anxious suspense, — the Republicans 
to know what initiative the Administration at Washington 
would take, and the Democrats to determine what course 
they should follow if the President should call for troops 
to put down the insurrection. 

Before -we met again, Mr. Lincoln's proclamation and 
call for 75,000 men for three months' service had been 
issued, and the great mass of the people of the North, for- 
getting all party distinctions, answered with an enthusiasm 
that swept politicians off their feet. When we met again 
on Tuesday morning, Judge Key, taking my arm and pacing 
the floor outside the railing, broke out impetuously, " Mr. 
Cox, the people have gone stark mad ! " — " I knew they 
would if a blow were struck against the flag," said I, re- 
minding him of some previous conversations we had had 
on the subject. He, with most of the politicians of the 
day, partly by sympathy with the overwhelming current 
of public opinion, and partly by the reaction of their own 
hearts against the theories which had encouraged the seces- 
sionists, determined to support the war measure of the 
Government and to make no factious opposition to such 
State legislation as might be necessary to sustain the Federal 
Administration. 

The attitude of Mr. Key is only a type of many others, 
and marks one of the most striking features of the time. 



War Preparations in the North 39 

A few days after the surrender of Sumter, Stephen A. 
Douglas passed through Cokunbus on his way to Washing- 
ton, and, in response to the calls of a spontaneous gathering 
of people, spoke to them from the window of his bedroom 
in the hotel. There had been no thought for any of the 
common surroundings of a public meeting. There were 
no torches, no music. A dark mass of men filled full the 
dimly lit street, and called for Douglas with an earnestness 
of tone wholly different from the enthusiasm of common 
political gatherings. He came half-dressed to his window, 
and, without any light near him, spoke solemnly to the peo- 
ple upon the terrible crisis which had come upon the nation. 
Men of all parties were there : his own followers to get 
some light as to their duty"; the Breckinridge Democrats 
ready, most of them, repentantly to follow a Northern 
leader now that their Southern associates were in armed 
opposition to the Government; the Republicans eager to 
know whether so potent an influence was to be unreservedly 
on the side of the nation. I remember well the serious so- 
licitude with which I listened to his opening sentences as 
I leaned against the railing of the State House park, trying 
in vain to see more than a dim outline of the man as he 
stood at the unlighted window. His deep, sonorous tones 
rolled down through the darkness from above us, an ear- 
nest, measured voice, the more solemn, the more impressive, 
because we could not see the speaker, and it came to us lit- 
erally as "a voice in the night," — the night of our coun- 
try's unspeakable trial. There was no uncertainty in his 
tone; the Union must be preserved and the insurrection 
must be crushed; he pledged his hearty support to Mr. 
Lincoln's administration in doing this ; other questions must 
stand aside till the national authority should be everywhere 



40 The Civil War 

recognized. I do not think we greatly cheered him, — it 
was, rather, a deep Amen that went up from the crowd. 
We went home breathing more freely in the assurance We 
now felt that, for a time at least, no organized opposition 
to the Federal Government and its policy of coercion could 
be formidable in the North. 

Yet the situation hung upon us like a nightmare. Gar- 
field and I were lodging together at the time, our wives 
being kept at home by family cares, and when we reached 
our sitting-room, after an evening session of the Senate, 
we often found ourselves involuntarily groaning, " Civil 
war in our land ! " The shame, the folly, the outrage, 
seemed too great to believe, and we half hoped to wake 
from it as from a dream. Among the painful remem- 
.brances of those days is the everpresent weight at the heart 
which never left me till I found relief in the active duties 
of camp life at the close of the month. I went about my 
duties (and I am sure most of those with whom I associ- 
ated did the same) with the half-choking sense of a grief 
I dared not think of; like one who is dragging himself to 
the ordinary labors of life from some terrible and recent 
bereavement. 

We talked of our personal duty, and though both Gar- 
field and myself had young families, we were agreed that 
our activity in the organization and support of the Re- 
publican party made the duty of supporting the Govern- 
ment by military service come peculiarly home to us. He 
was, for the moment, somewhat trammeled by his half- 
clerical position, but he very soon cut the knot. My own 
path seemed unmistakably plain. 

When Mr. Lincoln issued his first call for troops, the 
existing laws made it necessary that these should be fully 



War Preparations in the North 41 

organized and officered by the several States. Then, the 
treasury was in no condition to bear the burden of war ex- 
penditures, and, till Congress could assemble, the President 
was forced to rely on the States for means to equip and 
transport their own men. This threw upon the Governors 
and Legislatures of the loyal States responsibilities of a 
kind wholly unprecedented. A long period of profound 
peace had made every military organization seem almost 
farcical. A few independent companies formed the merest 
shadow of an army, and the State militia proper was only 
a nominal thing. It happened, however, that I held a com- 
mission as brigadier in this State militia, and my intimacy 
with Governor Dennison led him to call upon me for such 
assistance as I could render in the first enrollment and or- 
ganization of the Ohio quota. Arranging to be called to 
the Senate chamber when my vote might be needed, I gave 
my time chiefly to such military matters as the Governor 
appointed. Although, as I have said, my military com- 
mission had been a nominal thing, and in fact I had never 
worn a uniform, I had not wholly neglected theoretic prepa- 
ration for such work. For some years, the possibility of 
a war of seces-sion had been one of the things which were 
forced upon the thoughts of reflecting people, and I had 
given some careful study to such books of tactics and of 
strategy as were within easy reach. Especially I had been 
led to read military history with critical care, and had 
carried away many valuable ideas from that most useful 
means of military education. I had, therefore, some no- 
tion of the work before us, and could approach its problems 
with less loss of time, at least, than if I had been wholly 
ignorant. 

From the hour the call for troops was published, en- 



42 The Civil War 

listments began, and recruits were parading the streets con- 
tinually. At the capitol the restless impulse to be doing 
something military seized even upon the members of the 
Legislature, and a good many of them assembled every 
evening upon the east terrace of the State House to be 
drilled in marching and facing by one or two of their own 
number who had some knowledge of company tactics. 
Most of the uniformed independent companies in the cities 
of the State immediately tendered their services and began 
to recruit their numbers to the hundred men required for 
acceptance. There was no time to procure uniforms, nor 
was it desirable ; for these companies had chosen their own, 
and would have to change it for that of the United States 
as soon as this could be furnished. For some days com- 
panies could be seen marching and drilling, of which part 
would be uniformed in some gaudy style such as is apt to 
prevail in holiday parades in time of peace, while another 
part would be dressed in the ordinary working garb of 
citizens of all degrees. The uniformed files would also 
be armed and accoutered, the others would be without 
arms or equipments, and as awkward a squad as could well 
be imagined. The material, however, was magnificent and 
soon began to take shape. The fancy uniforms were left 
at home, and some approximation to a simple and useful 
costume was made. The recent popular outburst in Italy 
furnished a useful idea, and the " Garibaldi uniform " of 
red flannel shirt with broad falling collar, with blue trou- 
sers held by a leather waist-belt, and a soft felt hat for the 
head, was extensively copied and served an excellent pur- 
pose. It could be made by the wives and sisters at home, 
and was all the more acceptable for that. The spring was 
opening and a heavy coat would not be much needed, so 



War Preparations in the North 43 

that with some sort of overcoat and a good blanket in an 
improvised knapsack, the new company was not badly pro- 
vided. The warm scarlet color reflected from their en- 
thusiastic faces as they stood in line made a picture that 
never failed to impress the mustering officers with the splen- 
did character of the men. 

The officering of these new troops was a difficult and 
delicate task, and, so far as company officers were con- 
cerned, there seemed no better way at the beginning than 
to let the enlisted men elect their own, as was in fact done. 
In most cases where entirely new companies were raised, 
it had been by the enthusiastic efforts of some energetic 
volunteers who were naturally made the commissioned of- 
ficers. But not always. There were numerous examples 
of self-denial by men who remained in the ranks after ex- 
pending much labor and money in recruiting, modestly re- 
fusing the honors, and giving way to some one supposed 
to have military knowledge or experience. The war in 
Mexico in 1846-7 had been our latest conflict with a civ- 
ilized people, and to have served in it was a sure passport 
to confidence. It had often been a service more in name 
than in fact; but the young volunteers felt so deeply their 
own ignorance that they were ready to yield to any pre- 
tense of superior knowledge, and generously to trust them- 
selves to any one who would offer to lead them. Hosts 
of charlatans and incompetents were thus put into respon- 
sible places at the beginning, but the sifting work went on 
fast after the troops were once in the field. The election 
of field-officers, however, ought not to have been allowed. 
Companies w-ere necessarily regimented together of which 
each could have little personal knowledge of the officers 
of the others; intrigue and demagogy soon came into play, 



44 The Civil War 

and almost fatal mistakes were made in selection. The 
evil worked its cure, but the ill effects of it were long visi- 
ble. 

The immediate need of troops to protect Washington 
caused most of the uniformed companies to be united into 
the first two regiments, which were quickly dispatched to 
the East. These off, companies began to stream in from 
all parts of the State. On their first arrival they were 
quartered wherever shelter could be had, as there were no 
tents or sheds to make a camp for them. Going to my 
evening work at the State House, as I crossed the rotunda 
I saw a company marching in by the south door, and an- 
other disposing itself for the night upon the marble pave- 
ment near the east entrance. In the Senate chamber a 
company was quartered, and the senators were supplying 
them with paper and pens with which " the boys " were 
writing their farewells to mothers and sweethearts, whom 
they hardly dared hope they should see again. A similar 
scene was going on in the Representatives' hall, another in 
the Supreme Court room. In the executive office sat the 
Governor, the unwonted noises, when the door was opened, • 
breaking in on the quiet, businesslike air of the room, — 
he meanwhile dictating dispatches, indicating answers to 
others, receiving committees of citizens, giving directions 
to officers of companies and regiments, accommodating him- 
self to the wilful democracy of our institutions which in- 
sist upon seeing the man in chief command, and Avill not 
take its answer from a subordinate, until in the small hours 
of the night the noises were hushed, and after a brief hour 
of effective, undisturbed work upon the matters of chief 
importance, he could leave the glare of his gas-lighted 



War Preparations in the North 45 

office and seek a few hours' rest, only to renew his wearing 
labors on the morrow. 

On the 29th of April I was ordered by McClellan to 
proceed next morning to Camp Dennison, near Cincinnati, 
where he had fixed the site for a permanent camp of in- 
struction. I took with me one full regiment and half of 
another. 

The first fortnight in camp was the hardest for the 
troops. The plowed fields became deep with mud which 
nothing could remove till steady good weather should allow 
them to be packed hard under the continued tramp of 
thousands of men. The organization of camp-kitchens had 
to be learned by the hardest experience also, and the men 
who had some aptitude for cooking had to be found by 
a slow process of natural selection, during which many an 
unpalatable meal had to be eaten. A disagreeable bit of 
information soon came to us in the proof that more than 
half the men had never had the contagious diseases of in- 
fancy. The measles broke out, and we had to organize 
a camp-hospital at once. A large barn near by was taken 
for this purpose, and the surgeons had their hands full 
of cases, which, however trivial they might seem at home, 
were here aggravated into dangerous illness by the un- 
wonted surroundings, and the impossibility of securing the 
needed protection from exposure. 

As to supplies, hardly a man in a regiment knew how 
to make out a requisition for rations or for clothing, and, 
easy as it is to rail at " red-tape," the necessity of keeping 
a check upon embezzlement and wastefulness justified the 
staff-bureaus at Washington in insisting upon regular 
vouchers to support the quartermasters' and commissaries' 



46 The Civil War 

accounts. But here, too, men were gradually found who 
had special talent for the work. Where everybody had 
to learn a new business, it would have been miraculous if 
grave errors had not occurred frequently. Looking back at 
it the wonder is that the blunders and mishaps had not been 
tenfold more numerous than they were. 

By the middle of May the confusion had given way to 
reasonable system, but w^e now were obliged to meet the 
embarrassments of reorganization for three years, under 
the President's second call for troops (May 3d). In every 
company some discontented spirits wanted to go home, and, 
to avoid the odium of going alone, they became mischief- 
makers, seeking to prevent the whole company from re- 
enlisting. The growing discipline was relaxed or lost in 
the solicitations, the electioneering, the speech-making, and 
the other common arts of persuasion. In spite of all these 
discouragements, however, the daily drills and instruction 
went on with some approach to regularity, and our raw 
volunteers began to look more like soldiers. Captain Gor- 
don Granger, of the regular army, came to muster the re- 
enlisted regiments into the three-years' service, and as he 
stood at the right of the 4th Ohio, looking down the 
line of a thousand stalwart men, all in their Garibaldi shirts 
(for we had not yet got our uniforms), he turned to me 
and exclaimed, " My God ! that such men should be food 
for powder! " It certainly was a display of manliness and 
intelligence such as had hardly ever been seen in the ranks 
of an army. 




THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN 
By G. T. Beauregard, General, C. S. A. 

Soon after the first conflict between the au- 
thorities of the Federal Union and those of the 
Confederate States had occurred in Charleston 
Harbor, by the bombardment of Fort Sumter, 
— which, beginning at 4:30 a. m. on the 12th 
of April,- 1 86 1, forced the surrender of that 
fortress within thirty hours thereafter into my 
hands, — I was called to Richmond, which by 
A Confederate ^^^^^ time had become the Confederate seat of 
drummer. government, and was directed to " assume 
command of the Confederate troops on the Alexandria 
line." Arriving at Manassas Junction, I took command on 
the 2d of June, forty-nine days after the evacuation of 
Fort Sumter. 

I was almost as well advised of the strength of the hostile 
army in my front as its commander, who, I may mention, 
had been a classmate of mine at West Point. Under those 
circumstances I had become satisfied that a well-equipped, 
well-constituted Federal army at least 50,000 strong, of 
all arms, confronted me at or about Arlington, ready and 
on the very eve of an offensive operation against me, and 
to meet which I could muster barely 18,000 men with 29 
•field-guns. 

Previously — indeed, as early as the middle of June — it 

47 



48 The Civil War 

had become apparent to my mind that through only one 
course of action could there be a well-grounded hope of 
ability on the part of the Confederates to encounter suc- 
cessfully the offensive operations for which the Federal au- 
thorities were then vigorously preparing in my immediate 
front, with so consummate a strategist and military ad- 
ministrator as Lieutenant-General Scott in general com- 
mand at Washington, aided by his accomplished heads of 
the large general staff corps of the United States Army. 
This course was to make the most enterprising, warlike use 
of their interior lines which we possessed, for the swift 
concentration at the critical instant of every available Con- 
federate force upon the menaced position, at the risk, if 
need were, of sacrificing all minor places to the one clearly of 
major military value — there to meet our adversary so offen- 
sively as to overwhelm him, under circumstances that must 
assure immediate ability to assume the general offensive 
even upon his territory, and thus conquer an early peace 
by a few well-delivered blows. 

The preparation, in front of an ever-threatening enemy, 
of a wholly volunteer army, composed of men very few of 
whom had ever belonged to any military organization, had 
been a work of many cares not incident to the command of 
a regular army. These were increased by the insufficiency 
of my staff organization, an inefficient management of the 
quartermaster's department at Richmond, and the prepos- 
terous mismanagement of the commissary-general, who not 
only failed to furnish rations, but caused the removal of 
the army commissaries, who, under my orders, procured 
food from the country in front of us to keep the army from 
absolute M-ant — supplies that were otherwise exposed to 
be gathered by the enemy. So specially severe had been 



The First Battle of Bull Run 



49 



the recent duties at headquarters, aggravated not a Httle by 
night alarms arising from the enemy's immediate presence, 
that, in the evening of the 20th, I found my chief-of-staff 
sunken upon the papers that covered his table, asleep in 
sheer exhaustion from the overstraining and almost slum- 
berless labor of the last days and nights. I covered his 
door with a guard to secure his rest against interruption, 
after which the army had the benefit of his usual active 
and provident services. 

There was much in this decisive conflict about to open, 
not involved in any after-battle, which pervaded the two 
armies and the people behind them and col- 
ored the responsibility of the respective 
commanders. The political hostilities of a 
generation were now face to face with 
weapons instead of words. Defeat to either 
side would be a deep mortification, but de- 
feat to the South must turn its claim of in- 
dependence into an empty vaunt. 

July 2 1 St, bearing the fate of the new- 
born Confederacy, broke brightly over the 
fields and woods that held the hostile forces. 
My scouts, thrown out in the night toward 
Centreville along the Warrenton Turnpike, had reported the 
enemy was concentrating. 

General Johnston and I now set out at full speed for 
the point of conflict. We arrived there just as Bee's troops, 
after giving way, were fleeing in disorder behind the height 
in the rear of the Stone Bridge. They had come around 
between the base of the hill and the Stone Bridge into a 
shallow ravine which ran up to a point on the crest where 
Jackson had already formed his brigade along the edge 




A soldier of the 
Sixth Massa- 
chusetts Regi- 
ment. 



50 The Civil War 

of the woods. We found the commanders resokitely stem- 
ming the further flight of the routed forces, but vainly en- 
deavoring to restore order, and our own efforts were as 
futile. Every segment of line we succeeded in forming 
was again dissolved while another was being formed ; more 
than two thousand men were shouting each some sugges- 
tion to his neighbor, their voices mingling with the noise 
of the shells hurtling through the trees overhead, and all 
word of command drowned in the confusion and uproar. 
It was at this moment that General Bee used the famous 
expression, " Look at Jackson's brigade ! It stands there 
like a stone wall " — a name that passed from the brigade 
to its immortal commander. The disorder seemed irre- 
trievable, but happily the thought came to me that if their 
colors were planted out to the front the men might rally on 
them, and I gave the order to carry the standards forward 
some forty yards, which was promptly executed by the 
regimental officers, thus drawing the common eye of the 
troops. They now received easily the orders to advance 
and form on the line of their colors, which they obeyed 
with a general movement; and as General Johnston and 
myself rode forward shortly after with the colors of the 
4th Alabama by our side, the line that had fought all morn- 
ing, and had fled, routed and disordered, now advanced 
again into position as steadily as veterans. The 4th Ala- 
bama had previously lost all its field-officers; and noticing 
Colonel S. R. Gist, an aide to General Bee, a young man 
whom I had known as adjutant-general of South Carolina, 
and whom I greatly esteemed, I presented him as an able 
and brave commander to the stricken regiment, who cheered 
their new leader, and maintained under him, to the end of 
the day, their previous gallant behavior. We had come 



The First Battle of Bull Run 51 

none too soon, as the enemy's forces, flushed with the belief 
of accomplished victory, were already advancing across the 
valley of Young's Branch and up the slope, where they had 
encountered for a while the fire of the Hampton Legion, 
which had been led forward toward the Robinson house 
and the turnpike in front, covering the retreat and helping 
materially to check the panic of Bee's routed forces. 

The conflict now became very severe for the final pos- 
session of this position, which was the key to victory. 
The Federal numbers enabled them so to extend their lines 
through the woods beyond the Sudley road as to outreach 
my left flank, which I was compelled partly to throw back, 
so as to meet the attack from that quarter ; meanwhile their 
numbers equally enabled them to outflank my right in the 
direction of the Stone Bridge, imposing anxious watchful- 
ness in that direction. I knew that I was safe if I could 
hold out till the arrival of reenforcements, which was but a 
matter of time; and, with the full sense of my own respon- 
sibility, I was determined to hold the line of the plateau, 
even if surrounded on all sides, until assistance should come, 
unless my forces were sooner overtaken by annihilation. 

It was now between half -past 2 and 3 o'clock; a scorch- 
ing sun increased the oppression of the troops, exhausted 
from incessant fighting, many of them having been en- 
gaged since the morning. Fearing lest the Federal offen- 
sive should secure too firm a grip, and knowing the fatal 
result that might spring from any grave infraction of my 
line, I determined to make another effort for the recovery 
of the plateau, and ordered a charge of the entire line of 
battle, including the reserves, which at this crisis I myself 
led into action. The movement was made with such keep- 
ing and dash that the whole plateau was swept clear of the 



52 



The Civil War 



enemy, who were driven down the slope and across the turn- 
pike on our right and the valley of Young's Branch on our 
left, leaving in our final possession the Rohinson and Henry 




Arlington, the home of General Robert E. Lee. 

houses, with most of Ricketts's and Griffin's batteries, the 
men of which were mostly shot down where they bravely 
stood by their guns. 

Before the full advance of the Confederate ranks the 
enemy's whole line, whose right was already yielding, irre- 
trievably broke, fleeing across Bull Run by every available 
direction. Major Sykes's regulars, aided by Sherman's 
brigade, made a steady and handsome withdrawal, protect- 
ing the rear of the routed forces, and enabling many to 
escape by the Stone Bridge. 



The armies were vastly greater than had ever before 
fought on this continent, and were the largest volunteer 
armies ever assembled since the era of regular armies. The 
personal material on both sides was of exceptionally good 



The First Battle of Bull Run 



53 



character, and collectively superior to that of any subse- 
quent period of the war. The Confederate army was filled 
with generous youths who had answered the first call to 
arms. For certain kinds of field duty they were not as yet 
adapted, many of them having at first come with their bag- 
gage and servants ; these they had to dispense with, but, not 
to offend their susceptibilities, I then exacted the least work 
from them, apart 
from military 
drills, even to 
the prejudice of 
important field- 
works, when I 
could not get 
sufficient negro 
labor; they " had 
come to fight, 
and not to han- 
dle the pick 
and shovel," and 
their fighting 

redeemed well 
their shortcom- 
ings as intrench- 
ers. Before I 
left that gallant 
army, however, 
it had learned 
how readily the 
humbler could 
aid the nobler 



duty. 




Map of the Bull Run Campaign. 



54 The Civil War 

No people ever warred for independence with more rel- 
ative advantages than the Confederates; and if, as a mili- 
tary question, they must have failed, then no country must 
aim at freedom by means of war. We were one in senti- 
ment as in territory, starting out, not with a struggling 
administration of doubtful authority, but with our ancient 
State governments and a fully organized central govern- 
ment. As a military question, it was in no sense a civil 
war, but a war between two countries — for conquest on 
one side, for self-preservation on the other. The South, 
with its great material resources, its defensive means of 
mountains, rivers, railroads, and telegraph, with the im- 
mense advantage of the interior lines of war, would be open 
to discredit as a people if its failure could not be explained 
otherwise than by mere material contrast. 

Our soldiers were as brave and intelligent as ever bore 
arms; and, if only for reasons already mentioned, they did 
not lack in determination. Our people bore a devotion to 
the cause never surpassed, and which no war-making mon- 
arch ever had for his support ; they gave their all — even 
the last striplings under the family roofs filling the ranks 
voided by the fall of their fathers and brothers. But the 
narrow military view of the head of the Government, which 
illustrated itself at the outset by ordering from Europe, not 
100,000 or 1,000,000, but 10,000 stands of arms, as an in- 
crease upon 8,000, its first estimate, was equally narrow 
and timid in its employment of our armies. 

The moral and material forces actually engaged in the 
war made our success a moral certainty, but for the timid 
policy which — ignoring strategy as a science and boldness 
of enterprise as its ally — could never be brought to view 
the whole theater of war as one subject, of which all points 



The First Battle of Bull Run ^^ 

were but integral parts, or to hazard for the time points 
relatively unimportant for the purpose of gathering for an 
overwhelming and rapid stroke at some decisive point; and 
which, again, with characteristic mis-elation, would push a 
victorious force directly forward into unsupported and dis- 
astrous operations, instead of using its victory to spare from 
it strength sufficient to secure an equally important success 
in another quarter. 



INCIDENTS OF THE FIRST BULL RUN 
By John D. Imboden, Brigadier-General, C. S. A. 

For at least a half-hour after our forces were driven 
across Young's Branch no Confederate soldier was visible 
from our position near the Henry house. The Staunton 
Artillery, so far as we could see, was *' alone in its glory." 
General Bee's order had been, " Stay here till you are or- 
dered away." To my surprise, no orders had come, 
though, as I afterwards learned, orders to withdraw had 
been sent three-quarters of an hour before through Major 
Howard, of Bee's staff, who had fallen, desperately 
wounded, on the way. 

Jackson ordered me to go from battery to battery and 
see that the guns were properly aimed and the fuses cut 
the right length. This was the work of but a few minutes. 
On returning to the left of the line of guns, I stopped to 
ask General Jackson's permission to rejoin my battery. 

The fight was just then hot enough to make him feel 
well. His eyes fairly blazed. He had a way of throwing 
up his left hand with the open palm toward the person he 
was addressing. And as he told me to go, he made this 



56 



The Civil War 



gesture. The air was full of flying missiles, and as he 
spoke he jerked down his hand, and I saw that blood was 
streaming from it. I exclaimed, " General, you are 
wounded." He replied, as he drew a handkerchief from 
his breast-pocket, and began to bind it up, " Only a scratch 
— a mere scratch," and galloped away along his line. 

Nearing the Lewis house, we saw General Johnston and 
his staff coming toward us slowly, preceded a little by a 




The McLean house, General Beauregard's headquarters, near Manassas. 

gentleman on horseback, who was lifting his hat to every 
one he met. From the likeness I had seen of President 
Jefferson Davis, I instantly recognized him and told Shu- 
mate who it was. With the impulsiveness of his nature, 
Shumate dashed up to the President, seized his hand, and 
huzzaed at the top of his voice. I could see that Mr. Davis 
was greatly amused, and I was convulsed with laughter. 



The First Battle of Bull Run 



57 



When they came within twenty steps of me, where I had 
halted to let' the group pass, Shumate exclaimed, to the great 
amusement of all who heard him : " Mr. President, there's 
my captain, and I want to introduce you to him." The 
President eyed me for a moment, as if he thought I was an 
odd-looking captain. I had on a battered slouch hat, a red 
flannel shirt with only one sleeve, corduroy trousers, and 
heavy cavalry boots, and was begrimed with burnt powder, 










Fairfax Court House. 



dust, and the blood from my ear and arm, and must have 
been about as hard-looking a specimen of a captain as was 
ever seen. Nevertheless, the President grasped my hand 
with a cordial salutation, and after a few words passed on. 
We found our battery refreshing themselves on fat bacon 
and bread. After a hasty meal, I threw myself on a bag of 
oats, and slept till broad daylight next morning, notwith- 
standing a drenching rain which beat upon me during the 
nicrht. 



58 



The Civil War 



In fact, I was aroused in the morning by a messenger 
from ex-Governor Alston, of South CaroUna, summoning 
me to the side of my gallant commander, Brigadier-General 
Bee, who had been mortally wounded near the Henry house, 
where Bartow had been instantly killed almost at the same 
moment. When I reached General Bee, who had been car- 
ried back to the cabin where I had joined him the night 
before, he was unconscious ; in a few minutes, while I was 
holding his hand, he died. Some one during the night had 
told him that I had reflected on him for leaving our battery 
so long exposed to capture ; and, at his request, messengers 
had*been for hours hunting me in the darkness, to bring 
me to him, that I might learn from his own lips that he 
had sent Major Howard to order me to withdraw, when 
he was driven back across Young's Branch and the turn- 
pike. 

General Jackson's wound became very serious when in- 
flammation set in. On hearing, three days after the fight. 




The New Henry House and the Monument of the First Battle. 

From a photograph taken in 1884. 



that he was suffering with it, I rode to his quarters, a little 
farm-house near Centreville. Although it was barely sun- 
rise, he was out under the trees, bathing the hand with 



The First Battle of Bull Run 



59 



spring water. It was much swollen and very painful, but 
he bore himself stoically. His wife had arrived the night 
before. Of course, the battle was the only topic discussed 
at breakfast. I remarked, in Mrs. Jackson's hearing, 
" General, how is it that you can keep so cool, and appear 
so utterly insensible to danger in such a storm of shell and 
bullets as rained about you when your hand was hit? " He 
instantly became grave and reverential in his manner, and 
answered, in a low tone of great earnestness : " Captain, my 
religious belief teaches me to feel as safe in battle as in bed. 
God has fixed the time for my death. I do not concern 
myself about that, but to be always ready, no matter when 
it may overtake me." He added, after a pause, looking 
me full in the face : '' Captain, that is the way all men 
should live, and then all would be equally brave." 




THE CAPTURE OF FORT DONELSON 
By Lew Wallace, Major-General, U. S. V. 

It is of little moment now who first enunciated the idea 
of attacking the rebellion by way of the Tennessee River; 
most likely the conception was simultaneous with many 
minds. The trend of the river; its navigability for large 
steamers; its offer of a highway to the rear of the Con- 
federate hosts in Kentucky and the State of Tennessee ; its 
silent suggestion of a secure passage into the heart of the 
belligerent land, from which the direction of movement 
could be changed toward the Mississippi, or, left, toward 
Richmond ; its many advantages as a line of supply and of 
general communication, must have been discerned by every 
military student who, in the summer of 1861, gave himself 
to the most cursory examination of the map. 

When General Johnston assumed command of the West- 
ern Department, the war had ceased to be a new idea. Bat- 
tles had been fought. Preparations for battles to come 
were far advanced. Already it had been accepted that the 
North was to attack and the South to defend. The Missis- 
sippi River was a central object; if opened from Cairo to 
Fort Jackson (New Orleans), the Confederacy would be 
broken into halves, and good strategy required it to be 
broken. 

General Johnston persisted in fighting for Nashville, and 
for that purpose divided his thirty thousand men. Four- 
teen thousand he kept in observation of Buell at Louisville. 

60 



Capture of Fort Donelson 



61 



Sixteen thousand he gave to defend Fort Donelson. The 
latter detachment he himself called " the best part of his 
army." It is difficult to think of a great master of strategy 
making an error so perilous. 

Having taken the resolution to defend Nashville at 
Donelson, General Johnston intrusted the operation to three 
chiefs of brigade — John B. Floyd, Gideon J. Pillov^, and 
Simon B. Buckner. Of these, the first was ranking officer, 
and he was at the time under indictment by a grand jury at 
Washington for malversation as Secretary of War under 
President Buchanan, and for complicity in an embezzlement 
of public funds. 

The 6th of February, 1862, dawned darkly after a thun- 
der-storm. Pacing the parapets of the work on the hill 



■^i.0>f^9!!-f-{f 



r"ii%ili) 




Headquarters in the field. 

above the inlet formed by the junction of Hickman's Creek 
and the Cumberland River, a sentinel, in the serviceable 
butternut jeans uniform of the Confederate army of the 



62 The Civil War 

West, might that day have surveyed Fort Donelson ahnost 
ready for battle. In fact, very Httle was afterward done 
to it. There were the 2 water-batteries sunk in the north- 
ern face of the bluff, about thirty feet above the river; in 
the lower battery 9 32-pounder guns and i lo-inch Colum- 
biad, and in the upper another Columbiad, bored and rifled 
as a 32-pounder, and 2 32-pounder carronades. These guns 
lay between the embrasures, in snug revetment of sand in 
coffee-sacks, flanked right and left with stout traverses. 
The satisfaction of the sentry could have been nowise di- 
minished at seeing the backwater lying deep in the creek; 
a more perfect ditch against assault could not have been 
constructed. The fort itself was of good profile, and ad- 
mirably adapted to the ridge it crowned. Around it, on 
the landward side, ran the rifle-pits, a continuous but irreg- 
ular line of logs, covered with yellow clay. From Hick- 
man's Creek they extended far around to the little run just 
outside the town on the south. If the sentry thought the 
pits looked shallow, he was solaced' to see that they fol- 
lowed the coping of the ascents, seventy or eighty feet in 
height, up which a foe must charge, and that, where they 
were weakest, they were strengthened by trees felled out- 
wardly in front of them, so that the interlacing limbs and 
branches seemed impassable by men under fire. At points 
inside the outworks, on the inner slopes of the hills, de- 
fended thus from view of an enemy as well as from his 
shot, lay the huts and log-houses of the garrison. Here and 
there groups of later comers, shivering in their wet blank- 
ets, were visible in a bivouac so cheerless that not even 
morning fires could relieve it. A little music would have 
helped their sinking spirits, but there was none. Even the 
picturesque effect of gay uniforms was wanting. In fine. 



Capture of Fort Donelson 63 

the Confederate sentinel on the ramparts that morning, 
taking in the whole scene, knew the jolly, rollicking picnic 
days of the war were over. 

To make clearer why the 6th of February is selected to 
present the first view of the fort, about noon that day the 
whole garrison was drawn from their quarters by the sound 
of heavy guns, faintly heard from the direction of Fort 
Henry, a token by which every man of them knew that a 
battle was on. 

Brigadier-General Pillow reached Fort Donelson on the 
9th ; Brigadier-General Buckner came in the night of the 
nth; and Brigadier-General Floyd on the 13th. The lat- 
ter, by virtue of his rank, took command. 

The morning of the 13th — calm, spring-like, the very 
opposite of that of the 6th — found in Fort Donelson a 
garrison of 28 regiments of infantry: 13 from Tennessee, 
2 from Kentucky, 6 from Mississippi, i from Texas, 2 
from Alabama, 4 from Virginia. There were also present 
2 independent battalions, i regiment of cavalry, and artil- 
lerymen for 6 light batteries, and 17 heavy guns, making a 
total of quite 18,000 effectives. Fort Donelson was ready 
for battle. 

It may be doubted if General Grant called a council of 
war. The nearest approach to it was a convocation held 
on the Nezo Uncle Sam, a steamboat that was afterward 
transformed into the gun-boat Blackhazvk. The morning 
of the nth of February, a staff-officer visited each com- 
mandant of division and brigade with the simple verbal 
message : " General Grant sends his compliments, and re- 
quests to see you this afternoon on his boat." Minutes of 
the proceedings were not kept ; there was no adjourn- 
ment; each person retired when he got ready, knowing that 



64 The Civil War 

the march would take place next day, probably in the fore- 
noon. 

There were in attendance on the occasion some officers of 
great subsequent notability. Of these Ulysses S. Grant was 
first. The world knows him now ; then his fame was all 
before him. A singularity of the volunteer service in that 
day was that nobody took account of even a first-rate rec- 
ord of the Mexican War. The battle of Belmont, though 
indecisive, was a much better reference. A story was 
abroad that Grant had been the last man to take boat at 
the end of that afifair, and the addendum that he had lin- 
gered in face of the enemy until he was hauled aboard with 
the last gang-plank, did him great good. From the first his 
silence was remarkable. He knew how to keep his temper. 
In battle, as in camp, he went about quietly, speaking in a 
conversational tone ; yet he appeared to see everything that 
went on, and was always intent on business. He had a 
faithful assistant adjutant-general, and appreciated him; he 
preferred, however, his own eyes, word, and hand. His 
aides were little more than messengers. In dress he was 
plain, even negligent; in partial amendment of that his 
horse was always a good one and well kept. At the coun- 
cil — calling it such by grace — he smoked, but never said 
a word. In all probability he was framing the orders of 
march which were issued that night. 

On the morning of the 13th of February General Grant, 
with about twenty thousand men, was before Fort Donel- 
son. 

We have now before us a spectacle seldom witnessed in 
the annals of scientific war — an army behind field-works 
erected in a chosen position waiting quietly while another 
army very little superior in numbers proceeds at leisure to 



Capture of Fort Donelson 65 

place it in a state of siege. Such was the operation 
General Grant had before him at daybreak of the 13th of 
February. 

A little before dawn Birge's sharp-shooters were astir. 
Theirs was a peculiar service. Each was a preferred 
marksman, and carried a long-range Henry rifle, with sights 
delicately arranged as for target practice. In action each 
was perfectly independent. They never manoeuvered as a 
corps. When the time came they were asked, " Canteens 
full?" "Biscuits for all day?" Then their only order, 
"All right; hunt your holes, boys." Thereupon they dis- 
persed, and, like Indians, sought cover to please themselves 
behind rocks and stumps, or in hollows. Sometimes they 
dug holes ; sometimes they climbed into trees. Once in a 
good location, they remained there the day. At night they 
would crawl out and report to camp. This' morning, as I 
have said, the sharp-shooters dispersed early to find places 
within easy range of the breastworks. 

By the 14th of February the Confederates were com- 
pletely invested, except that the river above Dover remained 
to them. 

It must be remembered that the weather had changed 
during the preceding afternoon: from suggestions of spring 
it turned to intensified winter. From lending a gentle 
hand in bringing Foote and his iron-clads up the river, the 
wind whisked suddenly around to the north, and struck 
both armies with a storm of mixed rain, snow, and sleet. 
All night the tempest blew mercilessly upon the unsheltered, • 
fireless soldier, making sleep impossible. Inside the works, 
nobody had overcoats; while thousands of those outside 
had marched from Fort Henry as to a summer fete, leaving 
coats, blankets, and knapsacks behind them in the camp, 
s 



66 The Civil War 

More than one stout fellow has since admitted, with a 
laugh, that nothing was so helpful to him that horrible night 
as the thought that the wind, which seemed about to turn 
his blood into icicles, was serving the enemy the same way ; 
they, too, had to stand out and take the blast. 

Up to this time, there had not been any fighting involving 
infantry in line. This was now to be changed. Old sol- 
diers, rich with experience, would have regarded the work 
proposed with gravity; they would have shrewdly cast up 
an account of the chances of success, not to speak of the 
chances of coming out alive ; they would have measured the 
distance to be passed, every foot of it, under the guns of 
three batteries, Maney's in the center, Graves's on their left, 
and Drake's on their right — a direct line of fire doubly 
crossed. Nor would they have omitted the reception 
awaiting them from the rifle-pits. They were to descend 
a hill entangled for two hundred yards with underbrush, 
climb an opposite ascent partly shorn of timber ; make way 
through an abatis of tree-tops ; then, supposing all that suc- 
cessfully accomplished, they would be at last in face of an 
enemy whom it was possible to reinforce with all the re- 
serves of the garrison — with the whole garrison, if need 
be. A veteran would have surveyed the three regiments 
selected for the honorable duty with many misgivings. Not 
so the men themselves. They were not old soldiers. Re- 
cruited but recently from farms and shops, they accepted 
the assignment heartily and with youthful confidence in 
their prowess. It may be doubted if a man in the ranks 
gave a thought to the questions, whether the attack was to 
be supported while making, or followed up if successful, or 
whether it was part of a general advance. Probably the 



Capture of Fort Donelson 67 

most they knew was that the immediate objective before 
them was the capture of the battery on the hill. 

There was confusion in the beginning, or worse, an as- 
sault begun without a head. Nevertheless, the whole line 
went forward. On a part of the hillside the trees were yet 
standing. The open space fell to Morrison and his 49th, 
and paying the penalty of the exposure, he outstripped his 
associates. The men fell rapidly; yet the living rushed on 
and up, firing as they went. The battery was the common 
target. Maney's gunners, in relief against the sky, were 
shot down in quick succession. His first lieutenant 
(Burns) was one of the first to suffer. His second lieu- 
tenant (Massie) was mortally wounded. Maney himself 
was hit ; still he stayed, and his guns continued their punish- 
ment; and still the farmer lads and shop boys of Illinois 
clung to their purpose. With marvelous audacity they 
pushed through the abatis and reached a point within forty 
yards of the rifle-pits. It actually looked as if the prize 
were theirs. The yell of victory was rising in their throats. 
Suddenly the long line of yellow breastworks before them, 
covering Heiman's five regiments, crackled and turned into 
flame. The forlorn-hope stopped — • staggered — braced 
up again — shot blindly through the smoke at the smoke of 
the new enemy, secure in his shelter. Thus for fifteen min- 
utes the Illinoisans stood fighting. The time is given on the 
testimony of the opposing leader himself. Morrison was 
knocked out of his saddle by a musket-ball, and disabled ; 
then the men went down the hill. At its foot they rallied 
round their flags and renewed the assault. Pushed down 
again, again they rallied, and a third time climbed to the 
enemy. This time the battery set fire to the dry leaves on 



68 The Civil War 

the ground, and the heat and smoke became stifling. It 
was not possible for brave men to endure more. Slowly, 
sullenly, frequently pausing to return a shot, they went 
back for the last time ; and in going their ears and souls 
were riven with the shrieks of their wounded comrades, 
whom the flames crept down upon and smothered and 
charred where they lay. 

Considered as a mere exhibition of courage, this assault, 
long maintained against odds — twice repulsed, twice re- 
newed — has been seldom excelled. 

The night of the 14th of February fell cold and dark, 
and under the pitiless sky the armies remained in position 
so near to each other that neither dared light fires. Over- 
powered with watching, fatigue, and the lassitude of spirits 
which always follow a strain upon the faculties of men like 
that which is the concomitant of battle, thousands on both 
sides lay down in the ditches and behind logs and whatever 
else would in the least shelter them from the cutting wind, 
and tried to sleep. Very few closed their eyes. Even the 
horses, after their manner, betrayed the suffering they were 
enduring. 

It was now 10 o'clock, and over on the right Oglesby 
was beginning to fare badly. The pressure on his front 
grew stronger. The " rebel yell," afterward a familiar 
battle-cry on many fields, told of ground being gained 
against him. To add to his doubts, officers were riding 
to him with a sickening story that their commands were 
getting out of ammunition, and asking where they could go 
for supply. All he could say was to take what was in the 
boxes of the dead and wounded. At last he realized that 
the end was come. His right companies began to give way, 
and as they retreated, holding up their empty cartridge- 



70 The Civil War 

boxes, the enemy were emboldened, and swept more fiercely 
around his flank, until finally they appeared in his rear. He 
then gave the order to retire the division. 

On the Union side the situation at this critical time was 
favorable to the proposed retirement. 

[After an account of the attempted retreat of the Con- 
federates and of fighting during which it seemed at one time 
as though the day was lost to the Federals, the narrative 
continues] : 

Now on the ground, creeping when the fire was hottest, 
running when it slackened, they gained ground with aston- 
ishing rapidity, and at the same time maintained a fire that 
was like a sparkling of the earth. For the most part the 
bullets aimed at them passed over their heads and took ef- 
fect in the ranks behind them. Colonel Smith's cigar was 
shot off close to his lips. He took another and called for a 
match. A soldier ran and gave him one. " Thank you. 
Take your place now. We are almost up," he said, and, 
smoking, spurred his horse forward. A few yards from 
the crest of the height the regiments began loading and fir- 
ing as they advanced. The defenders gave way. On the 
top there was a brief struggle, which was ended by Cruft 
and Ross with their supports. 

The whole line then moved forward simultaneously, and 
never stopped until the Confederates were within the works. 
There had been no occasion to call on the reserves. The 
road to Charlotte was again effectually shut, and the bat- 
tle-field of the morning, with the dead and wounded lying 
where they had fallen, was in possession of the Third Di- 
vision, which stood halted within easy musket-range of the 
rifle-pits. It was then about half-past 3 o'clock in the after- 
noon. I was reconnoitering the works of the enemy 



Capture of Fort Donelson 71 

preliminary to charging them, when Colonel Webster, of 
General Grant's staff, came to me and repeated the order 
to fall back out of cannon range and throw up breastworks. 
" The general does not know that we have the hill," I said. 
Webster replied : " I give you the order as he gave it to 
me." " Very well," said I, " give him my compliments, 
and say that I have received the order." Webster smiled 
and rode away. The ground was not vacated, though the 
assault was deferred. In assuming the responsibility, I 
had no doubt of my ability to satisfy General Grant of the 
correctness of my course; and it was subsequently ap- 
proved. 

When night fell, the command bivouacked without fire 
or supper. Fatigue parties were told off to look after the 
wounded; and in the relief given there was no distinction 
made between friend and foe. The labor extended through 
the whole night, and the surgeons never rested. By sunset 
the conditions of the morning were all restored. The un- 
ion commander was free to order a general assault next day 
or resort to a formal siege. 

General Buckner, who throughout the affair bore him- 
self with dignity, ordered the troops back to their positions 
and opened communications with General Grant, whose la- 
conic demand of " unconditional surrender," in his reply to 
General Buckner's overtures, became at once a watchword 
of the war. 

Hd. Qrs., Army in the Field. 
Camp Near Donelson, Feb. i6th 1862. 
Gen. S. B. Buckner, 

Con fed. Army. 

Sir: Yours of this date proposing Armistice, and appointment 
of Commissioners, to settle terms of Capitulation is just received. 



1'- 



The Civil War 



No tiTins c'Xfi'pl ;iii niu-oiidit ioiKil .iiid iiimu'diatc suirrii(li.'r can he 
aicrplcd. 

i propose lo iiiDVi' iiiinu'dialrly ii|)t)ii your works. 
I am sir, very respectfully 

^'our ol)t. srvl. 

U. S. ( Ikant, 
15ri^. (leii. 

'riu' Tliird i)ivisi()n was astir very early on tlic lOtli of 
l'\'l)niary. 'I'lic fc'.i;inuMits lK-i;;m to fonn and close up the 
intervals between them, the intention heini;- to charj^e the 
breastworks south of l)o\er about breakfast-time. In the 




G('UysburB» 
(J^^'^'Xr^ y'> llavr« il.. Ornci)^^. 

wiiiciioliior yx^ ^ V,'§ V —I 



>?«< 



I J tp ^» « •« S'lifl 

StiiliiU-'Mll.vi ' I 



Tlu- war in die l'".ast. 



midst of the preparation a but;le was heard and a white Hag 
was seen eomiui; from the town toward the pickets. 1 sent 
mv .adjulant-i;eneral to meet the llai;' half-way and in([uire 



Capture of Fort Donelson 



73 



its |)in'i)<)sc'. Answer wris rclnnu'd that General lUickner 
had capiliilated (hn-ini;- the ni_iL;ht, and was now senchnji; in- 
formation of the fact to the coinniander of the troops in 
this (|uarter, that there mi.nht he no further hloodslied. 
^Mie (h' vision was ordered to advance mid take possession 
of the works and of .all pnhlic property and prisoners. 




Union and Con federal c soldiers trading between the lines in a truce. 



I.eavin<»' that ajj^reeahle duty to the hrij^ade commanders, T 
joined the officer hearintj;' the llaj^, and with my st.aff rode 
across the trench and into the town, till we came to the door 
of the old tavern already descrihed, where 1 dismounted. 
The tavern was the liea(lf|uarters of (ieneral lUickncr, to 
whom T sent my name; and heing an accjuaintance, I was 
at once admitted. 

I found General lUickner with his staff at hreakfast. lie 



74 



The Civil War 



met me with politeness and dignity. Turning to the offi- 
cers at the table, he remarked : " General Wallace, it is not 
necessary to introduce you to these gentlemen; you are 

acquainted with them all." 

They arose, came forward one 

by one, and gave their hands in 

salutation. I was then invited 

to breakfast, which consisted 

of corn bread and coffee, the 

best the gallant host had in his 

kitchen. We sat at the table 

about an hour and a half, when 

General Grant arrived and 

took temporary possession of 

the tavern as his headquarters, 
morning the army marched in and completed the posses 
sion. 





A volunteer 
of the 

Fourteenth 
New York 
Regiment. 



A Confederate 
" foot-cavalry- 
man." 

Later in the 




THE BATTLE OF SHILOH 
By Ulysses S. Grant, General, U. S. A. 

Shiloh was a log meeting-house, some two or three miles 
from Pittsburg Landing, and on the ridge which divides 
the waters of Snake and Lick Creeks, the former entering 
into the Tennessee just north of Pittsburg Landing, and 
the latter south. Shiloh was the key to our position, and 
was held by Sherman. His division was at that time 







Battery in action. 



^yy\jr-: 



wholly raw, no part of it ever having been 
.'^- in an engagement, but I thought this de- 

ficiency was more than made up by the superiority of the 
commander. McClernand was on Sherman's left, with 
troops that had been engaged at Fort Donelson, and were 
therefore veterans so far as Western troops had become 
such at that stage of the war. Next to McClernand 
came Prentiss, with a raw division, and on the extreme 
left, Stuart, with one brigade of Sherman's division. 

75 



76 



The Civil War 



Hurlbut was in rear of Prentiss, massed, and in reserve 
at the time of the onset. The division of General C. 
F. Smith was on the right, also in reserve. General Smith 
was sick in bed at Savannah, some nine miles below, 
but in hearing of our guns. His services on those two 
eventful days would no doubt have been of inestimable 
value had his health permitted his presence. The command 
of his division devolved upon Brigadier-General W. H. L. 
Wallace, a most estimable and able officer, — a veteran, too, 
for he had served a year in the Mexican War, and had been 
with his command at Henry and Donelson. Wallace was 
mortally wounded in the first day's engagement, and with 
the change of commanders thus necessarily effected in the 
heat of battle, the efficiency of his division was much weak- 
ened. 

The position of our troops made a continuous line from 
Lick Creek, on the left, to Owl Creek, a branch of Snake 
Creek, on the right, facing nearly south, and possibly a 
little west. The water in all these streams was very high 

at the time, and contributed 
to protect our flanks. The 
enemy was compelled, there- 
fore, to attack directly in front. 
This he did with great vigor, 
inflicting heavy losses on the 
National side, but suffering- 
much heavier on his own. 

The Confederate assaults 

were made with such disregard 

Chi the skirmish line. of losses on their own side, 

that our line of tents soon fell into their hands. The 

ground on which the battle was fought was undulating. 




The Battle of Shiloh 77 

heavily timbered, with scattered clearings, the woods giv- 
ing some protection to the troops on both sides. There 
was also considerable underbrush. A number of attempts 
were made by the enemy to turn our right flank, where 
Sherman was posted, but every effort was repulsed with 
heavy loss. But the front attack was kept up so vigor- 
ously that, to prevent the success of these attempts to get 
on our flanks, the National troops were compelled several 
times to take positions to the rear, nearer Pittsburg Land- 
ing. When the firing ceased at night, the National line 
was all of a mile in rear of the position it had occupied in 
the morning. 

With the single exception of a few minutes after the 
capture of Prentiss, a continuous and unbroken line was 
maintained all day from Snake Creek or its tributaries on 
the right to Lick Creek or the Tennessee on the left, above 
Pittsburg. There was no hour during the day when there 
was not heavy firing and generally hard fighting at some 
point on the line, but seldom at all points at the same time. 
It was a case of Southern dash against Northern pluck and 
endurance. 

Three of the five divisions engaged on Sunday were en- 
tirely raw, and many of the men had only received their 
arms on the way from their States to the field. Many of 
them had arrived but a day or two before, and were hardly 
able to load their muskets according to the manual. Their 
officers were equally ignorant of their duties. Under these 
circumstances, it is not astonishing that many of the regi- 
ments broke at the first fire. In two cases, as I now re- 
member, colonels led their regiments from the field on first 
hearing the whistle of the enemy's bullets. In these cases 
the colonels were constitutional cowards, unfit for any mili- 



78 The Civil War 

tary position. But not so the officers and men led out of 
danger by them. Better troops never went upon a battle- 
field than many of these officers and men afterward proved 
themselves to be who fled panic-stricken at the first whistle 
of bullets and shell at Shiloh. 

During the whole of Sunday I was continuously engaged 
in passing from one part of the field to another, giving 
directions to division commanders. In thus moving along 
the line, however, I never deemed it important to stay long 
with Sherman. Although his troops were then under fire 
for the first time, their commander, by his constant pres- 
ence with them, inspired a confidence in officers and men 
that enabled them to render services on that bloody battle- 
field worthy of the best of veterans. McClernand was next 
to Sherman, and the hardest fighting was in front of these 
two divisions. McClernand told me on that day, the 6th, 
that he profited much by having so able a commander sup- 
porting him. A casualty to Sherman that would have taken 
him from the field that day would have been a sad one for 
the troops engaged at Shiloh. And how near we came to 
this ! On the 6th Sherman was shot twice, once in the hand, 
once in the shoulder, the ball cutting his coat and making a 
slight wound, and a third ball passed through his hat. In 
addition to this he had several horses shot during the 
day. 

So confident was I before firing had ceased on the 6th 
that the next day would bring victory to our arms if we 
could only take the initiative, that I visited each division 
commander in person before any reinforcements had 
reached the field. I directed them to throw out heavy lines 
of skirmishers in the morning as soon as they could see, and 
push them forward imtil they found the enemy, following 



The Battle of Shiloh 79 

with their entire divisions in supporting distance, and to 
engage the enemy as soon as found. To Sherman I told 
the story of the assault at Fort Donelson, and said that the 
same tactics would win at Shiloh. Victory was assured 
when Wallace arrived even if there had been no other sup- 
port. The enemy received no reinforcements. He had 
suffered heavy losses in killed, wounded, and straggling, 
and his commander, General Albert Sidney Johnston, was 
dead. 

During the night rain fell in torrents, and our troops 
were exposed to the storm without shelter. I made my 
headquarters under a tree a few hundred yards back from 
the river-bank. My ankle was so much swollen from the 
fall of my horse the Friday night preceding, and the bruise 
was so painful, that I could get no rest. The drenching rain 
would have precluded the possibility of sleep, without this 
additional cause. Some time after midnight, growing 
restive under the storm and the continuous pain, I moved 
back to the log-house on the bank. This had been taken as 
a hospital, and all night wounded men were being brought 
in, their wounds dressed, a leg or an arm amputated, as the 
case might require, and everything being done to save life 
or alleviate suffering. The sight was more unendurable 
than encountering the enemy's fire, and I returned to my 
tree in the rain. 

The advance on the morning of the 7th developed the 
enemy in the camps occupied by our troops before the bat- 
tle began, more than a mile back from the most advanced 
position of the Confederates on the day before. 

In a very short time the battle became general all along 
the line. This day everything was favorable to the Federal 
side. We had now become the attacking party. The en- 



8o 



The Civil War 



emy was driven back all day, as we had been the day before, 
until finally he beat a precipitate retreat. 

Shiloh was the severest battle fought at the West during 
the war, and but few in the East equaled it for hard, de- 
termined fighting. I saw an open field, in our possession 
on the second day, over which the Confederates had made 
repeated charges the day before, so covered with dead that 
it would have been possible to walk across the clearing, in 




Checking the Confederate advance (Shiloh). 

any direction, stepping on dead bodies, without a foot 
touching the ground. On our side National and Con- 
federate were mingled together in about equal proportions ; 
but on the remainder of the field nearly all were Confed- 
erates. On one part, which had evidently not been plowed 
for several years, probably because the land was poor, 
bushes had grown up, some to the height of eight or ten 
feet. There was not one of these left standing unpierced 
by bullets. The smaller ones were all cut down. 



The Battle of Shiloh 81 

Contrary to all my experience up to that time, and to the 
experience of the army I was then commanding, we were 
on the defensive. We were without intrenchments or de- 
fensive advantages of any sort, and more than half the 
army engaged the first day was without experience or even 
drill as soldiers. The officers with them, except the divi- 
sion commanders, and possibly two or three of the brigade 
commanders, were equally inexperienced in war. The re- 
sult was a Union victory that gave the men who achieved 
it great confidence in themselves ever after. 

The enemy fought bravely, but they had started out 
to defeat and destroy an army and capture a position. 
They failed in both, with very heavy loss in killed and 
wounded, and must have gone back discouraged and 
convinced that the " Yankee " was not an enemy to be 
despised. 

The navy gave a hearty support to the army at Shiloh, 
as indeed it always did, both before and subsequently, when 
I was in command. The nature of the ground was such, 
however, that on this occasion it could do nothing in aid of 
the troops until sundown on the first day. The country 
was broken and heavily timbered, cutting of¥ all view of 
the battle from the river, so that friends would be as much 
in danger from fire from the gun-boats as the foe. But 
about sundown, when the National troops were back in 
their last position, the right of the enemy was near the river 
and exposed to the fire of the two gun-boats, which was 
delivered with vigor and efifect. After nightfall, when 
firing had entirely ceased on land, the commander of the 
fleet informed himself, proximately, of the position of our 
troops, and suggested the idea of dropping a shell within 
the lines of the enemy every fifteen minutes during the 



82 



The Civil War 



night. This was done with effect, as is proved by the Con- 
federate reports. 

Up to the battle of Shiloh, I, as we'll as thousands of 
other citizens, believed that the rebellion against the Gov- 
ernment would collapse suddenly and soon if a decisive 
victory could be gained over any of its armies. Henry and 
Donelson were such victories. An army of more than 21,- 
000 men was captured or destroyed. Bowling Green, Co- 



-% r 




Shiloh — Store and part of the National Cemetery in 1884. 

lumbus, and Hickman, Ky., fell in consequence, and Clarks- 
ville and Nashville, Tenn., the last two with an immense 
amount of stores, also fell into our hands. The Tennessee 
and Cumberland Rivers, from their mouths to the head of 
navigation, were secured. But when Confederate armies 
were collected which not only attempted to hold a line far- 
ther south, from Memphis to Chattanooga, Knoxville and 
on to the Atlantic, but assumed the offensive, and made 
such a gallant effort to regain what had been lost, then, 
indeed, I gave up all idea of saving the Union except by 
complete conquest. Up to that time it had been the policy 



The Battle of Shiloh 83 

of our army, certainly of that portion commanded by me, 
to protect the property of the citizens whose territory was 
invaded, without regard to their sentiments, whether Union 
or Secession. After this, however, I regarded it as hu- 
mane to both sides to protect the persons of those found at 
their homes but to consume everything that could be used 
to support or supply armies. Protection was still continued 
over such supplies as were within lines held by us, and 
which we expected to continue to hold. But such supplies 
within the reach of Confederate armies I regarded as con- 
traband as much as arms or ordnance stores. Their de- 
struction was accomplished without bloodshed, and tended 
to the same result as the destruction of armies. I con- 
tinued this policy to the close of the war. Promiscuous 
pillaging, however, was discouraged and punished. In- 
structions were always given to take provisions and forage 
under the direction of commissioned officers, who should 
give receipts to owners, if at home, and turn the property 
over to officers of the quartermaster or commissary depart- 
ments, to be issued as if furnished from our Northern 
depots. But much was destroyed without receipts to own- 
ers when it could not be brought within our lines, and 
would otherwise have gone to the support of secession and 
rebellion. This policy, L believe, exercised a material in- 
fluence in hastening the end. 



THE FIRST FIGHT OF IRON-CLADS 
By John Taylor Wood, Colonel, C. S. A. 



The engagement in Hampton 
Roads on the 8th of March, 1862, 
between the Confederate iron-clad 
Virginia, or the Mcrriinac (as she 
is known to the North), and the 
United States wooden fleet, and 
that on the 9th between the Vir- 
ginia and the Monitor, was, in its 
resuhs, in some respects the most 
momentous naval conflict ever wit- 
nessed. No battle was ever more 
widely discussed or produced a 
greater sensation. It revolutionized 
,»->* the navies of the world. Line-of- 
battle ships, those huge, overgrown 
craft, carrying from eighty to one 
hundred and twenty guns and from five hundred to 
twelve hundred men, which, from the destruction of the 
Spanish Armada to our time, had done most of the 
fighting, deciding the fate of empires, were at once uni- 
versally condemned as out of date. Rams and iron-clads 
were in future to decide all naval warfare. In this battle 
old things passed away, and the experience of a thousand 
years of battle and breeze was forgotten. The naval 
supremacy of England vanished in the smoke of this 




/7 / 



The First Fight of Iron-Clads 85 



fight, it is tiTie, only to reappear some years later more 
commanding than ever. The effect of the news was best 
described by the London Times, which said : " Whereas 
we had available for immediate purposes one hundred and 
forty-nine first-class war-ships, we have now two, these two 
being the Warrior and her sister Ironside. There is not now 
a ship in the English navy apart from these two that it would 
not be madness to trust to an engagement with that little 
Monitor." The Admiralty at once proceeded to reconstruct 
the navy, cutting down a number of their largest ships and 
converting them into turret or broadside iron-clads. 

The same results were produced in France, which had but 
one sea-going iron-clad, La Gloire, and this one, like the 
Warrior, w-as only protected amidships. The Emperor Na- 




Bunimg of the McrninaL 



86 The Civil War 

poleon promptly appointed a commission to devise plans 
for rebuilding his navy. And so with all the maritime 
powers. In this race the United States took the lead, and 
at the close of the war led all the others in the number and 
efficiency of its iron-clad fleet. It is true that all the great 
powers had already experimented with vessels partly ar- 
mored, but very few were convinced of their utility, and 
none had been tried by the test of battle, if we except a 
few floating batteries, thinly clad, used in the Crimean War. 

In the spring of 1861 Norwalk and its large naval es- 
tablishment had been hurriedly abandoned by the Federals, 
why no one could tell. It is about twelve miles from Fort 
Monroe, which was then held by a large force of regulars. 
A few companies of these, with a single frigate, could have 
occupied and commanded the town and navy yard and kept 
the channel open. However, a year later, it was as quickly 
evacuated by the Confederates, and almost with as little 
reason. 

The yard was abandoned to a few volunteers, after it 
was partly destroyed, and a large number of ships were 
burnt. Among the spoils were upward of twelve hundred 
heavy guns, which were scattered among Confederate forti- 
fications from the Potomac to the Mississippi. Among the 
ships burnt and sunk was the frigate Merrim-ac of 3,500 tons 
and 40 guns, afterward rechristened the Virginia, and so I 
will call her. During the summer of 1861 Lieutenant John 
M. Brooke, an accomplished officer of the old navy, who 
with many others had resigned, proposed to Secretary Mal- 
lory to raise and rebuild this ship as an iron-clad. His 
plans were approved, and orders were given to carry them 
out. She was raised and cut down to the old berth-deck. 
Both ends for seventy feet were covered over, and when 



The First Fight of Iron-Clads 87 

the ship was in fighting trim were just awash. On the 
midship section, 170 feet in length, was biiih at an angle 
of 45 degrees a roof of pitch-pine and oak 24 inches thick, 
extending from the water-line to a height over the gun- 
deck of 7 feet. Both ends of the shield were rounded so 
that the pivot-guns could be used as bow and stern chasers 
or quartering. Over the gun-deck was a light grating, mak- 
ing a promenade about twenty feet wide. The wood back- 
ing was covereci with iron plates, rolled at the Tredegar 
works, two inches thick and eight wide. The first tier w^as 
put on horizontally, the second up and down, — in all to 
the thickness of four inches, bolted through the wood- 
work and clinched. The prow was of cast-iron, projecting 
four feet, and badly secured, as events proved. The rudder 
and propeller were entirely unprotected. The pilot-house 
was forward of the smoke-stack, and covered with the same 
thickness of iron as the sides. The motive power was the 
same that had always been in the ship. Both of the en- 
gines and boilers had been condemned on her return from 
her last cruise, and were radically defective. Of course, 
the fire and sinking had not improved them. We could not 
depend upon them for six hours at a time. A more ill- 
contrived or unreliable pair of engines could only have been 
found in some vessels of the United States navy. 

During the summer and fall of 1861 I had been sta- 
tioned at the batteries on the Potomac at Evansport and 
Aquia Creek, blockading the river as far as possible. In 
January, 1862, I was ordered to the Virginia as one of the 
lieutenants, reporting to Commodore French Forrest, who 
then commanded the navy yard at Norfolk. Commodore 
Franklin Buchanan was appointed to the command, — an 
energetic and high-toned officer, who combined with daring 



88 The Civil War 

courage great professional ability, standing deservedly at 
the head of his profession. In 1845 ^""^ ^^^^ been selected 
by Mr. Bancroft, Secretary of the Navy, to locate and or- 
ganize the Naval Academy, and he launched that institu- 
tion upon its successful career. Under him were as capa- 
ble a set of officers as ever were brought together in one 
ship. But of man-of-war's men or sailors we had scarcely 
any. The South was almost without a maritime popula- 
tion. In the old service the majority of officers were from 
the South, and all the seamen from the North. 

Every one had flocked to the army, and to it we had 
to look for a crew. Some few seamen were found in 
Norfolk, who had escaped from the gun-boat flotilla in the 
waters of North Carolina, on their occupation by Admiral 
Goldsborough and General Burnside. In hopes of secur- 
ing some men from the army, I was sent to the headquar- 
ters of General Magruder at Yorktown, who was known 
to have under his command two battalions from New Or- 
leans, among whom might be found a number of seamen. 
The general, though pressed for" want of men, holding a 
long line with scarcely a brigade, gave me every facility to 
secure volunteers. With one of his staff I visited every 
camp, and the commanding officers were ordered to parade 
their men, and I explained to them what I wanted. About 
200 volunteered, and of this number I selected 80 who had 
some experience as seamen or gunners. Other commands 
at Richmond and Petersburg were visited, and so our crew 
of 300 was made up. They proved themselves to be as 
gallant and trusty a body of men as any one would wish 
to command, not only in battle, but in reverse and retreat. 

Notwithstanding every exertion to hasten the fitting 
out of the ship, the work during the winter progressed but 



The First Fight of Iron-Clads 



89 




slowly, owing to delay in sending the iron sheathing from 
Richmond. At this time the only establishment in the 
South capable of rolling iron plates 
was the Tredegar foundry. Its re- 
sources were limited, and the demand 
for all kinds of war material most 
pressing. And when we reflect upon 
the scarcity and inexperience of the 
workmen, and the great changes nec- 
essary in transforming an ordinary 
iron workshop into an arsenal in Hampton Roads, 
which all the machinery and tools had to be improvised, it 
is astonishing that so much was accomplished. The un- 
finished state of the vessel interfered so with the drills and 
exercises that we had but little opportunity of getting things 
into shape. It should be remembered that the ship was an 
experiment in naval architecture, differing in every respect 
from any then afloat. The officers and the crew were 
strangers to the ship and to each other. Up to the hour of 
sailing she was crowded with workmen. Not a gim had 
been fired, hardly a revolution of the engines had been made, 
when we cast off from the dock and started on what many 
thought was an ordinary trial trip, but which proved to be a 
trial such as no vessel that ever floated had undergone up to 
that time. From the start we saw that she was slow, not 
over five knots ; she steered so badly that, with her great 
length, it took from thirty to forty minutes to turn. She 
drew twenty-two feet, which confined us to a comparatively 
narrow channel in the Roads ; and, as I have before said, the 
engines were our weak point. She was as unmanageable 
as a water-logged vessel. 

It was at noort on the 8th of March that we steamed 



90 The Civil War 

down the Elizabeth River. Passing by our batteries, lined 
with troops, who cheered us as we passed, and through 
the obstructions at Craney Island, we took the south chan- 
nel and headed for Newport News. At anchor at this time 
off Fort Monroe -were the frigates Minnesota, Roanoke, 
and St. Lazvrence, and several gun-boats. The first two 
were sister ships of the Virginia before the w^ar; the last 
was a sailing frigate of fifty guns. Off Newport News, 
seven miles above, which was strongly fortified and held 
by a large Federal garrison, were anchored the frigate 
Congress, 50 guns, and the sloop Cumberland, 30. The 
day was calm, and the last two ships were swinging lazily 
by their anchors. The tide was at its height about 1.40 
p. M. Boats were hanging to the lower booms, washed 
clothes in the rigging. Nothing indicated that we were 
expected; but when we came within three-quarters of a 
mile, the boats were dropped astern, booms got alongside, 
and the Cumberland opened with her heavy pivots, fol- 
lowed by the Congress, the gun-boats, and the shore bat- 
teries. 

We reserved our fire until within easy range, when the 
forward pivot was pointed and fired by Lieutenant Charles 
Simms, killing and wounding most of the crew of the after 
pivot-gun of the Cumberland. Passing close to the Con- 
gress, which received our starboard broadside, and returned 
it with spirit, we steered direct for the Ctimberland, strik- 
ing her almost at right angles, under the fore-rigging on 
the starboard side. The blow was hardly perceptible on 
board the Virginia. Backing clear of her, we went ahead 
again, heading up the river, helm hard-a-starboard, and 
turned slowly. As we did so, for the first time I had an 
opportunity of using the after-pivot, of which I had charge. 



The First Fight of Iron-Clads 91 

As we swung, the Congress came in range, nearly stern on, 
and we got in three raking shells. She had slipped her 
anchor, loosed her foretop-sail, run up the jib, and tried to 
escape, but grounded. Turning, we headed for her and 
took a position within two hundred yards, where every 
shot told. In the meantime the Cumberland continued the 
fight, though our ram had opened her side wide enough to 
drive in a horse and cart. Soon she listed to port and filled 
rapidly. The crew were driven by the advancing water 
to the spar-deck, and there worked her pivot-guns until 
she went down with a roar, the colors still flying. No ship 
was ever fought more gallantly. The Congress continued 
the unequal contest for more than an hour after the sinking 
of the Cnnihcrland. Her losses were terrible, and finally 
she ran up the white flag. 

It was now 5 o'clock, nearly two hours of daylight, 
and the Minnesota only remained. She was aground and at 
our mercy. But the pilots would not attempt the middle 
channel with the ebb tide and approaching night. So we 
returned by the south channel to Sewell's Point and an- 
chored, the Minnesota escaping, as we thought, only until 
morning. 

Our loss in killed and wounded was twenty-one. The 
armor was hardly damaged, though at one time our ship 
was the focus on which were directed at least one hundred 
heavy guns, afloat and ashore. But nothing outside escaped. 
Two guns were disabled by having their muzzles shot off. 
The ram was left in the side of the Cumberland. One 
anchor, the smoke-stack, and the steam-pipes were shot 
away. Railings, stanchions, boat-davits, everything was 
swept clean. The flag-staff was repeatedly knocked over, 
and finally a boarding-pike was used. Commodore Bu- 



92 



The Civil War 



chanan and the other wounded were sent to the Naval Hos- 
pital, and after making preparations for the next day's 
fight, we slept at our guns, dreaming of other victories in 



the morning. 



But at daybreak we discovered, lying between us and the 
Minnesota, a strange-looking craft, which we knew at once 
to be Ericsson's Monitor, which had long been expected in 




ga::.v^....^.^-,-:ia'TWiiilinaaitgiiiBiSis 
The Mcrriinac driving the Congress from her anchorage. 

Hampton Roads, and of which, from different sources, we 
had a good idea. She could not possibly have made her 
appearance at a more inopportune time for us, changing 
our plans, which were to destroy the Minnesota, and then 
the remainder of the fleet below Fort Monroe. She ap- 
peared but a pigmy compared with the lofty frigate which 
she guarded. But in her size was one great element of her 
success. 



The First Fight of Iron-Clads 93 

After an early breakfast, we got under way and steamed 
out toward the enemy, opening fire from our bow pivot, 
and closing in to deliver our starboard broadside at short 
range, which was returned promptly from her 11 -inch guns. 
Both vessels then turned and passed again still closer. The 
Monitor was firing every seven or eight minutes, and nearly 
every shot struck. Our ship was working worse and worse, 
and after the loss of the smoke-stack, Mr, Ramsey, chief 
engineer, reported that the draft w-as so poor that it was 
with great difiiculty he could keep up steam. Once or 
twice the ship was on the bottom. Drawing 22 feet of 
water, we were confined to a narrow channel, while the 
Monitor, with only 12 feet immersion, could take any po- 
sition, and always have us in range of her guns. Orders 
were given to concentrate our fire on the pilot-house, and 
with good result, as we afterward learned. More than 
two hours had passed, and we had made no impression on 
the enemy so far as we could discover, while our wounds 
were slight. Several times the Monitor ceased firing, and 
we were in hopes she was disabled, but the revolution again 
of her turret and the heavy blows of her ii-inch shot on 
our sides soon undeceived us. 

Coming down from the spar-deck, and observing a divi- 
sion standing " at ease," Lieutenant Jones inquired : 

" Why are you not firing, Mr. Eggleston ? " 

" Why, our powder is very precious," replied the lieu- 
tenant; "and after two hours' incessant firing I find that 
I can do her about as much damage by snapping my thumb 
at her every two minutes and a half." 

Lieutenant Jones determined to run her down or board 
her. For nearly an hour we manceuvered for a position. 
Now "Go ahead!" now "Stop!" now "Astern!" The 



94 The Civil War 

ship was as unwieldy as Noah's ark. At last an opportunity 
offered. "Go ahead, full speed!" But before the ship 
gathered headway, the Monitor turned, and our disabled 
ram only gave a glancing blow, effecting nothing. Again 
she came up on our quarter, her bow against our side, and 
at this distance fired twice. Both shots struck about half- 
way up the shield, abreast of the after pivot, and the im- 
pact forced the side in bodily two or three inches. All 
the crews of the after guns were knocked over by the con- 
cussion and bled from the nose or ears. Another shot at 
the same place would have penetrated. While alongside, 
boarders were called away; but she dropped astern before 
they could get on board. And so, for six or more hours, 
the struggle was kept up. At length, the Monitor with- 
drew over the middle ground where we could not follow, but 
always maintaining a position to protect the Minnesota. 
To have run our ship ashore on a falling tide would have 
been ruin. We awaited her return for an hour; and at 
2 o'clock p. M. steamed to Sewell's Point, and thence to 
the dockyard at Norfolk, our crew thoroughly worn out 
from the two days' fight. Although there is no doubt that 
the Monitor first retired — for Captain Van Brunt, com- 
manding the Minnesota, so states in his official report — the 
battle was a drawn one, so far as the two vessels engaged 
were concerned. But in its general results the advantage 
was with the Monitor. Our casualties in the second day's 
fight were only a few wounded. 

This action demonstrated for the first time the power 
and efficiency of the ram as a means of offense. The side 
of the Cnmberland was crushed like an egg-shell. The 
Congress and Minnesota, even with our disabled bow, would 



The First Fight of Iron-Clads 95 

have shared the same fate but that we could not reach 
them on account of our great draft. 

It also showed the power of resistance of two iron-clads, 
widely differing in construction, model, and armament, under 
a fire which in a short time would have sunk any other 
vessel then afloat. 

The Monitor was well handled, and saved the Minnesota 




The cxp 



111 llic hurniiig Congress. 



and the remainder of the fleet at Fort Monroe. But her 
gunnery was poor. Not a single shot struck us at the 
water-line, where the ship was utterly unprotected and 
where one would have been fatal. Or had the fire been 
concentrated on any one spot, the shield would have been 
pierced ; or had larger charges been used, the result would 
have been the same. Most of her shot struck us obliquely, 
breaking the iron of both courses, but not injuring the 



96 



The Civil War 



wood backing. When struck at right angles, the backing 
would be broken, but not penetrated. We had no solid 
projectiles, except a few of large windage, to be used as hot 
shot, and, of course, made no impression on the turret. 
But in all this it should be borne in mind tliat both vessels 
were on their trial trip, both experimental, and both were re- 
ceiving their baptism of fire. 

The news of our victory was received everywhere in the 
South with the most enthusiastic rejoicing. Coming, as 
it did, after a number of disasters in the south and west, 




Arrival of the Monitor at Hampton Roads. 



it was particularly grateful. Then again, under the cir- 
cumstances, so little' was expected from the navy that this 
success was entirely unlooked for. So, from one extreme 
to the other, the most extravagant anticipations were formed 
of what the ship could do. For instance : the blockade 
could be raised, Washington leveled to the ground, New York 
laid under contribution, and so on. At the North, equally 
groundless alarm was felt. As an example of this. Sec- 
retary Welles relates what took place at a Cabinet meeting 
called by Mr. Lincoln on the receipt of the news. " ' The 
Merrimac' said Stanton, ' will change the wliole character 



The First Fight of Iron-Clads 



97 



of the war; she will destroy, seriatim, every naval vessel; 
she will lay all the cities on the seaboard under contribu- 
tion. I shall immediately recall Burnside ; Port Royal must 
be abandoned. I will notify the governors and municipal 
authorities in the North to take instant measure to protect 
their harbors.' He had no doubt, he said, that the mon- 
ster was at this moment on her way to Washington; and, 
looking out of the window, which commanded a view of 
the Potomac for many miles, ' Not unlikely, we. shall have 
a shell or cannon-ball from one of her guns in the White 
House before we leave this room.' Mr. Seward, usuall_y 
buoyant and self-reliant, overwhelmed with the intelligence, 
listened in responsive sympathy to Stanton, and was greatly 
depressed, as, indeed, were all the members." 




THE OPENING OF THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI 
By David D. Porter, Admiral, U. S. N. 

The most important event of the War of the RebelHon, 
with the exception of the fall of Richmond, was the cap- 
ture of New Orleans and the forts Jackson and St. Philip, 
guarding the approach to that city. To appreciate the na- 
ture of this victory, it is necessary to have been an actor 
in it, and to be able to comprehend not only the immediate 
results to the Union cause, but the whole bearing of the 
fall of New Orleans on the Civil War, which at that time 
had attained its most formidable proportions. 

Previous to fitting out the expedition against New Or- 
leans, there were eleven Southern States in open rebellion 
against the Government of the United States, or, as it was 
termed by the Southern people, in a state of secession. 
Their harbors were all more or less closed against our 
ships-of-war, either by the heavy forts built originally by 
the General Government for their protection, or by tor- 
pedoes and sunken vessels. Through four of the seceding 
States ran the great river Mississippi, and both of its banks, 
from Memphis to its mouth, were lined with powerful bat- 
teries. On the west side of the river were three important 
States, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas, with their great 
tributaries to the Mississippi, — the White, the Arkansas, 
and the Red, — which were in a great measure secure from 
the attacks of the Union forces. These States could not 
only raise half a million soldiers, but could furnish the 



Opening of the Lower Mississippi 99 

Confederacy with provisions of all kinds, and cotton enough 
to supply the Rebel Government with the sinews of war. 
New Orleans was the largest Southern city, and contained 
all the resources of modern warfare, having great workshops 
where machinery of the most powerful kind could be built, 
and having artisans capable of building ships in wood or 
iron, casting heavy guns, or making small arms. The peo- 
ple of the city were in no way behind the most zealous se- 




Farragut's flagship, the Hartford. 

cessionists in energy of purpose and in hostility to the Gov- 
ernment of the United States. 

The Mississippi is thus seen to have been the backbone 
of the Rebellion, which it should have been the first duty of 
the Federal Government to break. At the very outset 
of the war it should have been attacked at both ends at the 
same time, before the Confederates had time to fortify its 
banks or to turn the guns in the Government forts against 
the Union forces. A dozen improvised gun-boats would 
have held the entire length of the river if they had been 
sent there in time. The efficient fleet with which Du Pont, 
in November, 1861, attacked and captured the works at 



100 The Civil War 

Port Royal could at that time have steamed up to New 
Orleans and captured the city without difficulty. Any 
three vessels could have passed Forts Jackson and St. 
Philip a month after the commencement of the war, and 
could have gone on to Cairo, if necessary, without any 
trouble. But the Federal Government neglected to ap- 
proach the mouth of the Mississippi until a year after hos- 
tilities had commenced, except to blockade. The Confeder- 
ates made good use of this interval, putting forth all their 
resources and fortifying not only the approaches to New 
Orleans, but both banks of the river as far north as Mem- 
phis. 

I gave Secretary Welles in as few words as possible 
my opinion on the importance of capturing New Orleans, 
and my plan for doing so. Mr. Welles listened to me at- 
tentively, and when I had finished what I had to say he 
remarked that the matter should be laid before the Presi- 
dent at once; and we all went forthwith to the Executive 
Mansion, where we were received by Mr. Lincoln. 

My plan, which I then stated, was as folldXvs : To fit 
out a fleet of vessels-of-war with which to attack the city, 
fast steamers drawing not more than i8 feet of water, and 
carrying about 250 heavy guns; also flotilla of mortar-ves- 
sels, to be used in case, it should be necessary to bombard 
Forts Jackson and St. Philip before the fleet should attempt 
to pass them. I also proposed that a body of troops 
should be sent along in transports to take possession of 
the city after it had surrendered to the navy. When I 
had outlined the proposed movement the President re- 
marked : 

" This should have been done sooner. The Mississippi 
is the backbone of the Rebellion; it is the key to the whole sit- 



Opening of the Lower Mississippi loi 

uation. While the Confederates hold it they can obtain sui> 
plies of all kinds, and it is a barrier against our forces. 
Come, let us go and see General McClellan." 

At that time General McClellan commanded all of the 
military forces, and was in the zenith of his power. He 
held the confidence of the President and the country, and 
was engaged in organizing a large army with which to 
guarantee the safety of the Federal seat of Government, 
and to march upon Richmond. 

Our party was now joined by Mr. Seward, the Secretary 
of State, and we proceeded to McClellan's headquarters, 
where we found that officer diligently engaged in the duties 
of his responsible position. He came to meet the President 
with that cheery manner which always distinguished him, 
and, seeing me, shook me warmly by the hand. We had 
known each other for some years, and I always had the 
highest opinion of his military abilities. 

*' Oh," said the President, " you two know each other ! 
Then half the work is done." 

He then explained to the general the object of his calling 
at that time, saying: 

" This is a most important expedition. What troops can 
you spare to accompany it and take possession of New Or- 
leans after the navy has effected its capture ? It is not only 
necessary to have troops enough to hold New Orleans, but 
we must be able to proceed at once toward Vicksburg, 
which is the key to all that country watered by the Mis- 
sissippi and its tributaries. If the Confederates once for- 
tify the neighboring hills, they will, be able to hold that 
point for an indefinite time, and it will recjuire a large 
force to dislodge them." 

In all his remarks the President showed a remarkable 



102 The Civil War 

familiarity with the state of affairs. Before leaving us, 
he said : 

" We will leave this matter in the hands of you two gen- 
tlemen. Make your plans, and let me have your report as 
soon as possible." 

General McClellan and myself were then left to talk the 
matter over and draw up the plan of operations. With a 
man of McClellan's energy, it did not take long to come 
to a conclusion ; and, although he had some difficulty in 
finding a sufficient number of troops without interfering 
with other important projects, he settled the matter in two 
days, and reported that his men would be ready to embark 
on the 15th of January, 1862. 

The plan of the campaign submitted to the President was 
as follows : A naval expedition was to be fitted out, com- 
posed of vessels mounting not fewer than two hundred 
guns, with a powerful mortar-flotilla, and with steam trans- 
ports to keep the fleet supplied. The army was to furnish 
20,000 troops, not only for the purpose of occupying New 
Orleans after its capture, but to fortify and hold the heights 
about Vicksburg. The navy and army were to push on up 
the river as soon as New Orleans was occupied by our 
troops, and call upon the authorities of Vicksburg to 
surrender. Orders were to be issued to Flag-Officer Foote, 
who commanded the iron-clad fleet on the upper Mississippi, 
to join the fleet above Vicksburg with his vessels and mor- 
tar-boats. 

The above plans were all approved by the President, and 
the Navy Department immediately set to work to prepare 
the naval part of the expedition, while General McClellan 
prepared the military part. 

By the latter part of January the mortar-flotilla got off. 



Opening of the Lower Mississippi 103 

In addition to the schooners, it included seven steamers 
(which were necessary to move the vessels about in the 
Mississippi River) and a store-ship. Seven hundred 
picked men were enlisted, and twenty-one officers were se- 
lected from the merchant marine to command the mortar- 
schooners. 

An important duty now developed on the Secretary of the 
Navy, viz., the selection of an officer to command the 
whole expedition. Mr. Fox and myself had often discussed 
the matter. He had had in his mind several officers of 
high standing and unimpeachable loyalty; but, as I knew 
the officers of the navy better than he did, my advice was 
listened to, and the selection fell upon Captain David Glas- 
gow Farragut. 

I had known Farragut ever since I was five years old. 
He stood high in the navy as an officer and seaman, and 
possessed such undoubted courage and energy that no pos- 
sible objection could be made to him. On the first sign 
of war Farragut, though a Southerner by birth and resi- 
dence, had shown his loyalty in an outspoken manner. I 
found him, as I had expected, loyal to the utmost extent ; 
and, although he did not at that time know the destination 
of the expedition, he authorized me to accept for him the 
Secretary's offer, and I telegraphed the department: 
" Farragut accepts the command, as I was sure he would." 

In consequence of this answer he was called to Wash- 
ington, and on the 20th of January, 1862, he received orders 
to command the expedition against New Orleans. In the 
orders are included these passages : " There will be at- 
tached to your squadron a fleet of bomb-vessels, and armed 
steamers enough to manage them, all under command of 
Commander D. D. Porter, who will be directed to report 



104 ^^^ Civil War 

to you. As fast as these vessels are got ready they will 
be sent to Key West to await the arrival of all and the 
commanding officers, who will be permitted to organize and 
practise with them at that port. 

" When these formidable mortars arrive, and you are 
completely ready, you will collect such vessels as can be 
spared from the blockade, and proceed up the Mississippi 
River, and reduce the defenses which guard the approaches 
to New Orleans, when you will a])pear off that city and 
take possession of it under the guns of your sfiuadron, and 
hoist the American flag therein, keeping possession until 
troops can be sent to you. If the Mississippi expedition 
from Cairo shall not have descended the river, you will 
take advantage of the j^anic to push a strong force up the 
river to take all their defenses in the rear." 

As soon as possible Farragut proceeded to his station 
and took command of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron. 
In the meantime the Confederates had not been idle. They 
had been made acquainted early with the destination of the 
expedition, and had put forth all their energies in strength- 
ening Forts Jackson and St. Philip, obstructing the river, 
and preparing a naval force with which to meet the in- 
vaders. The ram Manassas was finished and placed 
in commission, and the iron-clad Louisiana, mounting six- 
teen heavy guns and heavily armored, was hurried toward 
completion. Besides these vessels there was another pow- 
erful iron-clad, building at New Orleans, which was ex- 
pected to sweep the whole Southern coast clear of Union 
vessels. Two iron-clad rams, the Arkansas and Tennessee, 
were building at Memphis, and several other iron-clad ves- 
sels were under construction at different points on the tribu- 
taries. 



Opening of the Lower Mississippi lo^ 

This energy and foretlioui^ht displayed by the Sonth 
seems marvelous when compared with what was done by 
the North during the same period of time; for among- all 
the ships that were sent to Farragut there was not one 
whose sides could resist a twelve-pound shot. Considering 
the great resources of the Northern States, this stipineness 




Bird's-cyc view of the passage of the forts below New Orleans, April 
24, 1862. The second division in action, 4: 15 A. M. 



of the Government ap|)ears inexcusable. Up to the time of 
the sailing of the expedition, only three iron-clads, the Mon- 
itor, Calcna, and Nciv Ironsides, had been commenced, in 
addition to the gun-boats on the Upi)er Mississippi; and it 
was only after the encounter of the Monitor with the Mer- 
rimac that it was seen how useful vessels of this class would 
be for the attack of New Orleans, particularly in contending 
with the forts on the 1)rmks of the Mississippi. 

The Confederates liad lost no time in strengthening their 



io6 The Civil War 

defenses. They had been working night and day ever since 
the expedition was planned by the Federal Government. 
Forts Jackson and St. Philip were strong defenses, the 
former on the west and the latter on the east bank of the 
Mississippi. 

Each of the forts held a garrison of about 700 men, some 
of whom were from the Northern States, besides many 
foreigners (Germans or Irish). 

The Confederate fleet mounted, all told, 40 guns, of 
which 25 were 32-pounders, and one-fourth of them rifled. 

It is thus seen that our wooden vessels, which passed the 
forts carrying 192 guns, had arrayed against them 126 
guns in strongly built works, and 40 guns on board of partly 
armored vessels. 

Having finished the preliminary work, on the i6th of 
April Farragut moved up with his fleet to within three miles 
of the forts, and informed me that I might commence the 
bombardment as soon as I was ready. 

The vessels now being in position, the signal was given 
to open fire; and on the morning of the i8th of April the 
bombardment fairly commenced, each mortar-vessel having 
orders to fire once in ten minutes. 

The moment that the mortars belched forth their shells, 
both Jackson and St. Philip replied with great fury; but 
it was some time before they could obtain our range, as we 
were well concealed behind our natural rampart. The en- 
emy's fire was rapid, and, finding that it was becoming 
rather hot, I sent Lieutenant Guest up to the head of the 
line to open fire on the forts with his 11 -inch pivot. This 
position he maintained for one hour and fifty minutes, and 
only abandoned it to fill up with ammunition. In the mean- 
time the mortars on the left bank (Queen's division) were 



Opening of the Lower Mississippi 107 

doing splendid work, though suffering considerably from 
the enemy's fire. 

I went on board the vessels of this division to see how 
they were getting on, and found them so cut up that I con- 
sidered it necessary to remove them, with Farragut's per- 
mission, to the opposite shore, under cover of the trees, near 
the other vessels, which had suffered but little. They held 
their position, however, until sundown, when the enemy 
ceased firing. 

At 5 o'clock in the evening Fort Jackson was seen to be 
on fire, and, as the flames spread rapidly, the Confederates 
soon left their guns. There were many conjectures among 
the officers of the fleet as to what was burning. Some 
thought that it was a fire-raft, and I was inclined to that 
opinion myself until I had pulled up the river in a boat and, 
by the aid of a night-glass, convinced myself that the fort 
itself was in flames. This fact I at once reported to Far- 
ragut. 

At nightfall the crews of the mortar-vessels were com- 
pletely exhausted; but when it became known that every 
shell was falling inside of the fort, they redoubled their 
exertions and increased the rapidity of their fire to a shell 
every five minutes, or in all two hundred and forty shells 
an hour. During the night, in order to allow the men to 
rest, we slackened our fire, and only sent a shell once every 
half hour. Thus ended the first day's bombardment, which 
was more effective than that of any other day during the 
siege. 

Next morning the bombardment was renewed and con- 
tinued night and day until the end. 

Bailey's division may be said to have swept everything 
befort it. The Pcnsacola, with her heavy batteries, drove 



io8 



The Civil War 




Explosion of the Confederate ram Louisiana. 

the men from the guns at Fort St. Phihp, and made it 
easier for the ships astern to get by. Fort St. Phihp had 
not been at all damaged by the mortars, as it was virtually 
beyond their reach, and it was from the guns of that work 
that our ships received the greatest injury. 

As most of the vessels of Bailey's division swept past the 
turn above the forts, Farragut came upon the scene with 
the Hartford and Brooklyn. The other ship of Farragut's 
division, the RicJunond, Commander James Alden, got out 
of the line and passed up on the west side of the river, near 
where I was engaged with the mortar-steamers in silencing 
the water-batteries of Fort Jackson. At this moment the 
Confederates in Fort Jackson had nearly all been driven 
from their guns by bombs from the mortar-boats and the 
grape and canister from the steamers. I hailed Alden, and 
told him to pass close to the fort and in the eddy, and he 
would receive little damage. He followed this advice, and 
passed by very comfortably. 



opening of the Lower Mississippi 109 

By this time the river had been illuminated by two fire- 
rafts, and everything could be seen as by the light of day. 
I could see every ship and gun-boat as she passed up as 
plainly as possible, and noted all their positions. 

When our large ships had passed the forts, the affair was 
virtually over. Had they all been near tlie head of the col- 
umn, the enemy would have been crushed at once, and the 
flag-ship would have passed up almost unhurt. As it was, 
the Hartford was more exposed and imperiled than any of 
her consorts, and that at a time when, if anything had hap- 
pened to the commander-in-chief, the fleet would have been 
thrown into confusion. 

I had an excellent opportunity of witnessing the move- 
ments of Farragut's fleet. By the aid of powerful night- 
glasses, I could almost distinguish persons on the 
vessels. The whole scene looked like a beautiful pan- 
orama. From almost perfect silence — the steamers mov- 
ing slowly through the water like ])hantom ships — 



'^^^i^J- 




/3^ • 



The Confederate "River Defense" ram Stonewall Jackson. 



one incessant roar of heavy cannon commenced, the 
Confederate forts and gun-boats opening together on 
the head of our line as it came within range. The 
Union vessels returned the fire as they came up, and soon 



110 The Civil War 

the guns of our fleet joined in the thunder, which seemed 
to shake the very earth. A kirid glare was thrown over the 
scene by the burning rafts, and, as the bomb-shells crossed 
each other and exploded in the air, it seemed as if a battle 
were taking place in the heavens as well as on the earth. 
It all ended as suddenly as it had commenced. In one hour 
and ten minutes after the vessels of the fleet had weighed 
anchor, the affair was virtually over, and Farragut was 
pushing on toward New Orleans, where he was soon to 
crush the last hope of Rebellion in that quarter by opening 
the way for the advance of the Union army. 

At noon of the 25th instant I sent Lieutenant-Command- 
ing Guest with a flag of truce to Fort Jackson, to call on 
the commanding officer to surrender the two forts and 
what was left of the Confederate navy into the possession 
of the United States, telling him that it was useless to have 
any more bloodshed, as Farragut had passed up the river 
with very little damage to his fleet, and was now probably 
in possession of New Orleans. I also took advantage of 
the occasion to compliment the enemy on his gallant resist- 
ance, and further to inform him that, if his answer was 
unfavorable, I would renew the bombardment. General 
Duncan sent me a very civil reply, but declined to surrender 
until he should hear from New Orleans ; whereupon I im- 
mediately opened a very rapid fire on Fort Jackson with all 
the mortars, and with such good effect that a mutiny soon 
broke out among the Confederate gunners, many of whom, 
refusing to stay in the fort and be slaughtered uselessly, 
left their posts and went up the bank out of range of our 
shell. Those who remained declined to fight any longer. 
They had borne without flinching a terrible bombardment, 
and their officers had exposed themselves throughout the 



Opening of the Lower Mississippi in 

trying ordeal with great courage ; but it was now the opin- 
ion of all that the fort should be surrendered without fur- 
ther loss of life. The mortars kept up their fire until late 
in the evening, when their bomb-shells were all expended. 
On the 26th instant I ordered the schooners to get under 
way, proceed to Pilot Town, and fill up with ammunition. 
Six of them were ordered to cross the bar and proceed to 
the rear of Fort Jackson, and be ready to open fire when 
signaled. 

In the meantime we kept an eye upon the Louisiana and 
the Confederate gun-boats. On the 27th instant five mor- 
tar-vessels appeared in the rear of Fort Jackson, and the 
U. S. steamer Miami commenced landing troops close to 
Fort St. Philip. The garrison of Jackson was still muti- 
nous, refusing to do duty, and General Duncan at midnight 
of the 28th sent an officer on board the Harriet Lane to 
inform me of his readiness to capitulate. On the follow- 
ing day I proceeded with nine gun-boats up to Fort Jack- 
son, under a flag of truce, and upon arrival sent a boat for 
the commanding officer of the river defenses, and such 
others as he might think proper to bring with him. 

I received these officers at the gangway, and treated them 
as brave men who had defended their trusts with a courage 
worthy of all praise ; and though I knew that they felt mor- 
tified at having to surrender to what they must have known 
was in some respects an inferior force, their bearing was 
that of men who had gained a victory, instead of undergo- 
ing defeat. 

Farragut's vessels were only struck twenty-three times in 
their hulls by shots from Fort Jackson, while they received 
their great damage from Fort St. Philip, as appears from 
the official reports. This shows how difficult it was for 



112 



The Civil War 



the Confederate gunners in the former work to fight while 
enduring the terrible pounding of the mortars. There can 
be no doubt that their fire prevented a greater loss of life in 
the Federal fleet and materially assisted toward the final 
result. Our total loss in the fleet was — killed, 37 ; 
wounded, 147. The ships which suffered most were the 
Pensacola, 37; Brooklyn, 35; and Iroquois, 28. 

When the sun rose on the Federal fleet the morning after 
the fight, it shone on smiling faces, even among those who 
were suffering from their wo'unds. Farragut received the 
congratulations of his officers with the same imperturbability 
that he had exhibited all through the eventful battle; and 
while he showed great feeling for those of his men who had 
been killed or wounded, he did not waste time in vain re- 
grets, but made the signal, " Push on to New Orleans." 
The fact that he had won imperishable fame did not seem 
to occur to him, so intent were his thoughts on following up 
his great victory to the end. 




long 



THE PENINSULAR CAMPAIGN 
By George B. McClellan, Major-General, U. S. A. 

From a small assemblage of unorganized 
citizens, utterly ignorant of war and almost of 
the use of arms, was evolved that mighty 
Army of the Potomac, which, unshaken 
alike in victory and defeat, during a 
series of arduous campaigns 
against an army most ably com- 
manded and the equal in heroism 
of any that ever met the shock 
of battle, proved itself worthy 
to bear on its bayonets the honor 
and fate of the nation. 

In July, 1 86 1, after having 
secured solidly for the Union 

Headquarter's flag, Army of that part of Western Virginia 
the Potomac. .t r ,-i tt- i i i. 

north of the ivanawiia and west 
of the mountains, I was suddenly called to Washington on 
the day succeeding the first battle of Bull Run. Reaching 
the capital on the 26th, I found myself assigned to the com- 
mand of that city and of the troops gathered around it. 

All was chaos and despondency; the city was filled with 
intoxicated stragglers, and an attack was expected. The 
troops numbered less than fifty thousand, many of whom 
were so demoralized and undisciplined that they could not 
be relied upon even for defensive purposes. Moreover, the 

8 113 




114 The Civil War 

term of service of a large part had already expired, or was 
on the point of doing so. On the Maryland side of the 
Potomac no troops were posted on the roads leading into 
the city, nor were there any intrenchments. On the Vir- 
ginia side the condition of affairs was better in these re- 
spects, but far from satisfactory. Sufficient and fit ma- 
terial of war did not exist. The situation was difficult and 
fraught with danger. 

The first and most pressing demand was the immediate 
safety of the capital and the Government. This was se- 
cured by enforcing the most rigid discipline, by organizing 
permanent brigades under regular officers, and by placing 
the troops in good defensive positions, far enough to the 
front to afford room for manoeuvering and to enable the 
brigades to support each other. 

The contingency of the enemy's crossing the Potomac 
above the city was foreseen and promptly provided for. 
Had he attempted this " about three months after the bat- 
tle of Manassas," he would, upon reaching " the rear of 
Washington," have found it covered by respectable works, 
amply garrisoned, with a sufficient disposable force to move 
upon his rear and force him to " a decisive engagement." 
It would have been the greatest possible good fortune for 
us if he had made this movement at the time in question, or 
even some weeks earlier. It was only for a very few days 
after the battle of Bull Run that the movement was prac- 
ticable, and every day added to its difficulty. 

Two things were at once clear : first, that a large and 
thoroughly organized army was necessary to bring war to 
a successful conclusion; second, that Washington must be 
so strongly fortified as to set at rest any reasonable appre- 



The Peninsular Campaign 115 

hensions of its being carried by a sudden attack, in order 
that the active army might be free to move with the maxi- 
mum strength and on any Hue of operations without regard 
to the safety of the capital. 

These two herculean tasks were entered upon without de- 
lay or hesitation. They were carried to a successful con- 
clusion, without regard to that impatient and unceasing 
clamor — inevitable among a people unaccustomed to war 
— which finally forced the hand of the general charged 
with their execution. He regarded their completion as es- 
sential to the salvation of his 
country, and determined to ac- 
complish them, even if sacrificed in 
the endeavor. Nor has he, even at 
this distant day, and after much 
bitter experience, any regret that 
he persisted in his determination. 
Washington was surrounded by a 
line of strong detached works, Old bridge across 

J .^, . ^-,1 J Chickahominy. 

armed with garrison artillery, and 

secure against assault. Intermediate points were occupied 
by smaller works, battery epaulements, infantry intrench- 
ments, etc. The result was a line of defenses which could 
easily be held by a comparatively small garrison against 
any assault, and could be reduced only by the slow opera- 
tions of a regular siege, requiring much time and material, 
and affording full opportunity to bring all the resources of 
the country to its relief. At no time during the war was the 
enemy able to undertake the siege of Washington, nor, if 
respectably garrisoned, could it ever have been in danger 
from an assault. The maximum garrison necessary to hold 




ii6 The Civil War 

the place against a siege from any and every quarter was 
34,000 troops, with 40 field-guns ; this included the requisite 
reserves. 

With regard to the formation of the Army of the Po- 
tomac, it must suffice to say that everything was to be 
created from the very foundation. Raw men and officers 
were to be disciplined and instructed. The regular army 
was too small to furnish more than a portion of the general 
officers, and a very small portion of the staff, so that the 
staff-departments and staff-officers were to be fashioned 
mainly out of the intelligent and enthusiastic, but perfectly 




Fort Monroe — Parade of 3rd Pennsylvania Artillery. 

raw, material furnished. Artillery, small-arms, and am- 
munition were to be fabricated, or purchased from abroad ; 
wagons, ambulances, bridge trains, camp equipage, hospital 
stores, and all the vast impedimenta and material indispen- 
sable for an army in the field, were to be manufactured. 
So great was the difficulty of procuring small-arms that the 
armament of the infantry was not satisfactorily completed 
until the winter, and a large part of the field-batteries were 
not ready for service until the spring of 1862. As soon as 
possible divisions were organized, the formation being es- 
sentially completed in November. 

On the ist of November,. upon the retirement of General 



The Peninsular Campaign 117 

Winfield Scott, I succeeded to the command of all the ar- 
mies, except the Department of Virginia, which comprised 
the country within sixty miles of Fort Monroe. Upon 
assuming the general command, I found that the West was 
far behind the East in its state of preparation, and much 
of my time and large quantities of material were consumed 
in pushing the organization of the Western armies. Mean- 
while the various coast expeditions were employed in seiz- 
ing important points of the enemy's seaboard, to facilitate 
the prevention of blockade-running, and to cut or threaten 
the lines of communication near the coast, with reference to 
subsequent operations. 

The plan of campaign which I adopted for the spring of 
1862 was to push forward the armies of Generals Halleck 
and Buell to occupy Memphis, Nashville, and Knoxville, 
and the line of the Memphis and Danville Railroad, so as 
to deprive the enemy of that important line, and force him 
to adopt the circuitous routes by Augusta, Branchville, and 
Charleston. It was also intended to seize Washington, 
North Carolina, at the earliest practicable moment, and to 
open the Mississippi by affecting a junction between Gen- 
erals Halleck and Butler. This movement of the Western 
armies was to be followed by that of the Army of the Po- 
tomac from Urbana, on the lower Rappahannock, to West 
Point and Richmond, intending, if we failed to gain Rich- 
mond by a rapid march, to cross the James and attack the 
city in rear, with the James as a line of supply. 

[The author, in his paper, then describes the campaign 
as it subsequently took place; the preparation for the cap- 
ture of Yorktown, the battle of Fair Oaks and other fight- 
ing including the seven days' battle near Richmond. In 
this the Confederates checked the Union army and saved 



ii8 



The Civil War 



their capital, so that the Peninsular Campaign cannot be 
called a success for the Union side. Concluding his paper 
General McClellan says:] 

No praise can be too great for the officers and men who 
passed through these seven days of battle, enduring fatigue 
without a murmur, successfully meeting and repelling every 
attack made upon them, always in the right place at the 
right time, and emerging from the fiery ordeal a compact 
army of veterans, equal to any task that brave and disci- 
plined men can be called upon to undertake. They needed 
now only a few days of well-earned repose, a renewal of 
ammunition and supplies, and reinforcements to fill the 
gaps made in their ranks by so many desperate encounters, 
to be prepared to advance again, with entire confidence, to 
meet their worthy antagonists in other battles. It was, 
however, decided by the authorities at Washington, against 




View of Alexandria in 1861. 



The Peninsular Campaign 



119 



Fortress Monroe. Richmond. 




Washington. 

Bird's-eye view of the scene of the Peninsular Campaign. 

The city of Washington lies nearly in the center of the picture — the dark spot 
on the broadest part of the river (the Potomac) in the foreground. The next river 
is the Rappahannock, the next the York, and the last the James. All these rivers 
flow into Cheasapeake Bay. Richmond is the dark spot on the James River, almost 
due south from Washington. The " Peninsula " is the land between the York and 
the James rivers. McClellan, starting from Fortress Monroe, moved his army up 
the Peninsula toward Richmond. 

my earnest remonstrances, to abandon the position on the 
James, and the campaign. The Army of the Potomac was 
accordingly withdrawn, and it was not until two years later 
that it again found itself under its last commander at sub- 
stantially the same point on the bank of the James. It was 
as evident in 1862 as in 1865 that there was the true de- 
fense of Washington, and that it w^as on the banks of the 
James that the fate of the Union was to be decided. 




STONEWALL JACKSON IN THE SHENANDOAH 
By- John D. Imboden, Brigadier-General, C. S. A. 

Soon after the battle of Bull Run 
Stonewall Jackson was promoted to 
major-general, and the Confederate 
Government having on the 21st of Oc- 
tober, 1 86 1, organized the Department 
of Northern Virginia, under command 
of General Joseph E. Johnston, it was 
Stonewall Jackson's divided into the Valley District, the Po- 
tomac District, and Aquia District, to be 
commanded respectively by Major-Generals Jackson, Beau- 
regard, and Holmes. On October 28th General Johnston 
ordered Jackson to Winchester to assume command of his 
district, and on the 6th of November the War Department 
ordered his old " Stonewall " brigade and 6,000 troops under 
command of Brigadier-General W. W. Loring to report to 
him. These, together with Turner Ashby's cavalry, gave 
him a force of about ten thousand men all told. 

In March Johnston withdrew from Manassas, and Gen- 
eral McClellan collected his army of more than one hundred 
thousand men on the Peninsula. Johnston moved south to 
confront him. McClellan had planned and organized a 
masterly movement to capture, hold, and occupy the Valley 
and the Piedmont region; and if his subordinates had been 
equal to the task, and there had been no interference from 



Jackson in the Shenandoah 121 

Washington, it is probable the Confederate army would 
have been driven out of Virginia and Richmond captured 
by midsummer, 1862. 

Jackson's little army in the Valley had been greatly re- 
duced during the winter from various causes, so that at the 
beginning of March he did not have over 5,000 
men of all arms available for the defense of his 
district, which began to swarm with enemies all 
around its borders, aggregating more than ten 
times its own strength. Having retired up the 
Valley, he learned that the enemy had begun to 
withdraw and send troops to the east of the moun- 
tains to co-operate with McClellan. This he re- 
solved to stop by an aggressive demonstration 
against Winchester, occupied by General Shields, 
of the Federal army, with a division of 8,000 to 

10,000 men. , ^ ^ , 

. 1- 1 r 1 • 1 -^ Confed- 

A little after the middle of March, Jackson con- erate of 

centrated what troops he could, and on the 23d he ^ ^' 

occupied a ridge at the hamlet of Kernstown, four miles 

south of Winchester. Shields promptly attacked him, and 

a severe engagement of several hours ensued, ending in 

Jackson's repulse about dark, followed by an orderly retreat 

up the Valley to near Swift Run Gap in Rockingham county. 

The pursuit was not vigorous nor persistent. Although 

Jackson retired before superior numbers he had given a taste 

of his fighting qualities that stopped the withdrawal of the 

enemy's troops from the Valley. 

The result was so pleasing to the Richmond government 

and General Johnston that it was decided to reinforce 

Jackson by sending General E well's division to him at Swift 

Run Gap, which reached him about the ist of May, thus 



122 



The Civil War 



giving Jackson an aggregate force of 
ooo men to open his campaign with. 




Map of the Battle of McDowell. 

By Major Jed. Hotchkiss, Topographical Engineer Val- 
ley District Army of Northern Virginia. 

The Confederate commands (indicated by white bars) 
of Generals Edward Johnson and W. 15. Taliaferro 
were posted on Setlington's Hill in the following order, 
beginning on the left: 52d, loth, s8th, 31st, and 23d 
Virginia; ijith Georgia; 37th Virginia. 

General Milroy's troops (indicated by black bars) 
moved from the valley of the Bull Pasture River 
against t'le Confederate position, and were engaged 
from right to left, as follows: 2Sth, 75th, 326, and 8jd 
Ohio, and 3d W. Virginia, with Johnson's utli Ohio 
battery on Hall's Ridge, the extreme left. 

The attack oi)ened on the Union right and ended 
with a flank movement by the regiments on the left. 



from 13,000 to 15,- 

Early in May 
Jackson was near 
Port RepubHc con- 
templating his sur- 
roundings and ma- 
turing his plans. 
What these latter 
were no one but 
himself knew. 

Suddenly the ap- 
palling news spread 
through the Valley 
that he had fled to 
the east side of the 
Blue Ridge through 
Brown's and Swift 
Run Gaps. Only 
Ashby remained be- 
hind with about 
one thousand cav- 
alry, scattered and 
moving day and 
night in the vicin- 
ity of McDowell. 
Franklin, Stras- 
burg, Front Royal, 
and Luray, and re- 
porting to Jackson 
every movement of 
the enemy. De- 



Jackson in the Shenandoah 123 

spair was fast settling upon the minds of the people of the 
Valley. Jackson made no concealment of his flight, the 
news of which soon reached his enemies. Milroy advanced 
two regiments to the top of the Shenandoah Mountain, only 
twenty-two miles from Staunton, and was preparing to 
move his entire force to Staunton, to be followed by Fre- 
mont. 

Jackson had collected, from Charlottesville and other 
stations on the Virginia Central Railroad, enough railway 
trains to transport all of his little army. That it was to be 
taken to Richmond when the troops were all embarked no 
one doubted. It was Sunday, and many of his sturdy sol- 
diers were Valley men. With sad and gloomy hearts they 
boarded the trains at Mechum's River Station. When all 
were on, lo! they took a westward course, and a little after 
noon the first train rolled into Staunton. 

News of Jackson's arrival spread like wild-fire, and 
crowds flocked to the station to see the soldiers and learn 
what it all meant. No one knew. 

As soon as the troops could be put in motion they took 
the road leading toward McDowell, the general having sent 
forward cavalry to Buffalo Gap and beyond to arrest all 
persons going that way. General Edward Johnson, with 
one of Jackson's Valley brigades, was already at Buffalo 
Gap. The next morning, by a circuitous mountain-path, 
he tried to send a brigade of infantry to the rear of Milroy's 
two regiments on Shenandoah Mountain, but they were 
improperly guided and failed to reach the position in time, 
so that when attacked in front both regiments escaped. 
Jackson followed as rapidly as possible, and the following 
day, May 8th, on top of the Bull Pasture Mountain, three 
miles east of McDowell, encountered Milroy reinforced by 



124 The Civil War 

Schenck, who commanded by virtue of seniority of com- 
mission. The conflict lasted four hours, and was severe and 
bloody. It w^as fought mainly with small-arms, the ground 
forbidding much use of artillery. Schenck and Milroy fled 
precipitately toward Franklin, to unite with Fremont. The 
route lay along a narrow valley hedged up by high moun- 
tains, perfectly protecting the flanks of the retreating army 
from Ashby's pursuing cavalry, led by Captain Sheetz. 
Jackson ordered him to pursue as vigorously as possible, 
and to guard completely all avenues of approach from the 
direction of McDowell or Staunton till relieved of this duty. 
Jackson buried the dead and rested his army, and then fell 
back to the Valley on the Warm Springs and Harrisonburg 
road. 

The morning after the battle of McDowell I called very 
early on Jackson at the residence of Colonel George W. 
Hull of that village, where he had his headquarters, to ask 
if I could be of any service to him, as I had to go to Staun- 
ton, forty miles distant, to look after some companies that 
were to join my command. He asked me to wait a few 
moments, as he wished to prepare a telegram to be sent to 
President Davis from Staunton, the nearest office to Mc- 
Dowell. He took a seat at a table and wrote nearly half a 
page of foolscap; he rose and stood before the fireplace 
pondering it some minutes; then he tore it in pieces and 
wrote again, but much less, and again destroyed what he 
had written, and paced the room several times. He sud- 
denly stopped, seated himself, and dashed off two or three 
lines, folded the paper, and said, " Send that off as soon as 
you reach Staunton." As I bade him " good-by," he re- 
marked : " I may have other telegrams to-day or to-mor- 
row, and will send them to you for transmission. I wish 



Jackson in the Shenandoah 125 

you to have two or three well-mounted couriers ready to 
bring me the replies promptly." 

I read the message he had given me. It was dated " Mc- 
Dowell," and read about thus : " Providence blessed our 
arms with victory at McDowell yesterday." That was all. 
A few days after I got to Staunton a courier arrived with a 
message to be telegraphed to the Secretary of War, I 
read it, sent it off, and ordered a courier to be ready with 
his horse, while I waited at the telegraph office for the reply. 
The message was to this effect : " I think I ought to at- 
tack Banks, but under my orders I do not feel at liberty to 
do so." In less than an hour a reply came, but not from 
the Secretary of War. It was from General Joseph E. 
Johnston, to whom I supposed the Secretary had referred 
General Jackson's message. I have a distinct recollection 
of its substance, as follows : " If you think you can beat 
Banks, attack him. I only intended by my orders to caution 
you against attacking fortifications." 

Two hours after receiving this telegram from General 
Johnston, Jackson was en route for Harrisonburg, where 
he came upon the great Valley turnpike. By forced 
marches he reached New Market in two days. Detach- 
ments of cavalry guarded every road beyond him, so that 
Banks remained in total ignorance of his approach. This 
Federal commander had the larger part of his force well 
fortified at and near Strasburg, but he kept a strong de- 
tachment at Front Royal, about eight miles distant and fac- 
ing the Luray or Page Valley. 

From New Market Jackson disappeared so suddenly that 
the people of the Valley were again mystified. He crossed 
the Massanutten Mountain, and, passing Luray, hurried 
toward Front Royal. He sometimes made thirty miles in 



126 



The Civil War 




Union camp at Front Royal. 

twenty-four hours with his entire army, thus gaining for 
his infantry the sobriquet of " Jackson's foot cavalry." 
Very early in the afternoon of May 23d he struck Front 
Royal. The surprise was complete and disastrous to the 
enemy, who were commanded by Colonel John R. Kenly. 
After a fruitless resistance they fled toward Winchester, 
twenty miles distant, with Jackson at their heels. A large 
number were captured within four miles by a splendid cav- 
alry dash of Colonel Flournoy and Lieutenant-Colonel 
Watts. 

Jackson now chased Bank's fleeing army to Winchester, 
where the latter made a stand, but after a sharp engage- 
ment with Ewell's division on the 25th he fled again, not 
halting till he had crossed the Potomac, congratulating him- 
self and his Government in a dispatch that his army was at 
last safe in Maryland. 



Jackson in the Shenandoah 



127 



The news of Bank's defeat created consternation at 
Washington, and Shields was ordered to return from east 
of the Blue Ridge to the Luray Valley in all haste to co- 
operate with Fremont. Jackson was advised of Shield's 
approach, and his ain^ was to prevent a junction of their 
forces till he reached a point where he could strike them in 
quick succession. He therefore sent cavalry detachments 
along the Shenandoah to burn the bridges as far as Port 
Republic, the river being at that time too full for fording. 
At Harrisonburg he took the road leading to Port Republic, 
and ordered me from Staunton, with a mixed battery and 
battalion of cavalry, to the bridge over North River near 
Mount Crawford, to prevent a cavalry force passing to his 
rear. 

I reached Port Republic an hour before daybreak of June 
9th, and sought the house occupied by Jackson ; Imt not 
wishing to disturb him so early, I asked the sentinel what 




From a photograph taken in 1885. 

View from Bank's Fort, near Strasburg, across to Fisher's Hill. 



128 The Civil War 

room was occupied by " Sandy " Pendleton, Jackson's ad- 
jutant-general. " Upstairs, first room on the right," he 
replied. 

Supposing he meant our right as we faced the house, I 
went up, softly opened the door, discovered General Jack- 
son lying on his face across the bed, fully dressed, with 
sword, sash, and boots all on. The low-burnt tallow candle 
on the table shed a dim light, yet enough by which to rec- 
ognize him. I endeavoured to withdraw without waking 
him. He turned over, sat up on the bed, and called out, 
''Who is that?" 

He checked my apology with, " That is all right. It 's 
time to be up. I am glad to see you. Were the men all up 
as you came through camp? " 

" Yes, General, and cooking." 

" That 's right. We move at daybreak. Sit down. I 
want to talk to you." 

I had learned never to ask him questions about his plans, 
for he would never answer such to any one. I therefore 
waited for him to speak first. He referred very feelingly 
to Ashby's death, and spoke of it as an irreparable loss. 
When he paused I said, " General, you made a glorious 
winding-up of 3'our four weeks' work yesterday." 

He replied, " Yes, God blessed our army again yester- 
day, and I hope with His protection and blessing we shall 
do still better to-day." 

Then seating himself, for the first time in all my inter- 
course with him, he outlined the day's proposed operations. 

This plan of battle was carried out to the letter. 

Jackson's military operations were always unexpected 
and mysterious. In my personal intercourse with him in 
the early part of the war, before he had become famous. 



Jackson in the Shenandoah 129 

he often said there were two things never to be lost sight 
of by a military commander : " Always mystify, mislead, 
and surprise the enemy, if possible; and when you strike 
and overcome him, never let up in the pursuit so long as 
your men have strength to follow; for an army routed, if 
hotly pursued, becomes panic-stricken, and can then be de- 
stroyed by half their number. The other rule is, never 
fight against heavy odds, if by any possible manoeuvering 
you can hurl your own force on only a part, and that the 
weakest part, of your enemy and crush it. Such tactics 
will win every time, and a small army may thus destroy a 
large one in detail, and repeated victory will make it in- 
vincible." 

His celerity of movement was a simple matter. He 
never broke down his men by too-long-continued marching. 
He rested the whole column very often, but only for a few 
minutes at a time. I remember that he liked to see the men 
lie down flat on the ground to rest, and would say, " A man 
rests all over when he lies down." 



THE SEVEN DAYS' FIGHTING 

(incidents of the close of the peninsular campaign) 

the army near richmond 

By Fitz John Porter, Major-General, U. S. V. 

Under the direction of General McClellan certain meas- 
ures for the protection of the right flank of the army in its 
advance upon Richmond were put in my hands, beginning 
simultaneously with the march of the army from the Pa- 
munkey. Among these were the clearing of the enemy 
from the upper Peninsula as far as Hanover Court House 
or beyond, and, in case General McDowell's large forces, 
then at Fredericksburg, were not to join us, the destruction 
of railroad and other bridges over the South and Pamun- 
key Rivers, in order to prevent the enemy in large force 
from getting into our rear from that direction, and in or- 
der, further, to cut the Virginia Central Railroad, the one 
great line of the enemy's communications between Rich- 
mond and Northern Virginia. 

On the 24th of June, at midnight. General McClellan 

telegraphed me that a pretended deserter, whom I had that 

day sent him, had informed him that Jackson was in the 

immediate vicinity, ready to unite with Lee in an attack 

upon my command. Though we had reason to suspect 

Jackson's approach, this was the first intimation we had of 

his arrival ; and we could obtain from Washington at that 

time no further confirmation of our suspicions, nor any 

130 



The Seven Days' Fighting 131 

information of the fact that he had left the front of those 
directed to watch him in Northern Virginia. 

Reynolds, who had special charge of the defenses of 
Beaver Dam Creek and of the forces at and above Mechan- 
icsville, was at once informed of the situation. He pre- 
pared to give our anticipated visitors a warm welcome. 
The infantry division and cavalry commanders were di- 
rected to break camp at the first sound of battle, pack their 
wagons and send them to the rear, and, with their brigades, 
to take specified positions in support of troops already 
posted, or to protect the right flank. 

On the 25th the pickets of the left of the main army 
south of the Chickahominy were pushed forward under 
strong opposition, and, after sharp fighting, gained consid- 
erable ground, so as to enable the 2d and 3d Corps (Sum- 
ner's and Heintzelman's) to support the attack on Old 
Tavern which it was intended to make next day with the 
6th Corps (Franklin's). The result of the fighting was to 
convince the corps commanders engaged that there had been 
no reduction of forces in their front to take part in any 
movement upon our right flank. 

Early on the 26th I was informed of a large increase of 
forces opposite Reynolds, and before noon the Confederates 
gave evidence of their intention to cross the river at 
Meadow Bridge and Mechanicsville, while from our cav- 
alry scouts along the Virginia Central Railroad came re- 
ports of the approach from the north of large masses of 
troops. 

Thus the attitude of the two armies toward each other 
was changed. Yesterday, McClellan was rejoicing over 
the success of his advance toward Richmond, and he was 
confident of reinforcement by McDowell. To-day, all the 



132 The Civil War 

united available forces in Virginia were to be thrown 
against his right flank, which was not in a convenient posi- 
tion to be supported. The prizes now to be contended for 
were : on the part of McClellan, the safety of his right 
wing, protection behind his intrenchments with the possi- 
bility of being able to remain there, and the gain of suffi- 
cient time to enable him to effect a change of base to the 
James; on the part of Lee, the destruction of McClellan's 
right wing, and, by drawing him from his intrenchments 
and attacking him in front, the raising of the siege of Rich- 
mond. 

The morning of Thursday, June 26th, dawned clear and 
bright, giving promise that the day would be a brilliant one. 
The formation of the ground south of the Chickahominy 
opposite Mechanicsville, and west to Meadow Bridge, 
largely concealed from view the forces gathered to execute 
an evidently well-planned and well-prepared attack upon my 
command. For some hours, on our side of the river, all 
was quiet, except at Mechanicsville and at the two bridge- 
crossings. At these points our small outposts were con- 
spicuously displayed for the purpose of creating an impres- 
sion of numbers and of an intention to maintain an obstinate 
resistance. We aimed to invite a heavy attack, and then, 
by rapid withdrawal, to incite such confidence in the enemy 
as to induce incautious pursuit. 

In the northern and western horizon vast clouds of dust 
arose, indicating the movements of Jackson's advancing 
forces. They were far distant, and we had reason to be- 
lieve that the obstacles to their rapid advance, placed in their 
way by detachments sent for that purpose, would prevent 
them from making an attack that day. As before stated, 



The Seven Days' Fighting 



133 



we did not fear Lee alone; we did fear his attack, com- 
bined with one by Jackson on our flank. 



NORTHERNER AND SOUTHERNER 

By Daniel H. Hill, Lieutenant-General, C. S. A. 

While encamped, about noon on Monday, the 23d of 
June, 1862, on the Williamsburg road, about a mile from 
the battle-field of Seven Pines, in command of a division 




The Union defenses. 

of the Confederate army, I received an order from General 
Lee to report immediately at his quarters on the Mechanics- 
ville road. On approaching the house which the general 
occupied, I saw an officer leaning over the yard-paling, 
dusty, travel-worn, and apparently very tired. He raised 
himself up as I dismounted, and I recognized General Jack- 
son, who till that moment I had supposed was confronting 



134 The Civil War 

Banks and Fremont far down the Valley of Virginia. He 
said that he had ridden fifty-two miles since i o'clock that 
morning, having taken relays of horses on the road. We 
went together into General Lee's office. General Jackson 
declined refreshments, courteously tendered by General Lee, 
but drank a glass of milk. Soon after. Generals Longstreet 
and A. P. Hill came in, and General Lee, closing the door, 
told us that he had determined to attack the Federal right 
wing, and had selected our four commands to execute the 
movement. He told us that he had sent Whiting's division 
to reinforce Jackson, and that at his instance the Richmond 
papers had reported that large reinforcements had been 
sent to Jackson " with a view to clearing out the Valley 
of Virginia and exposing Washington." He believed that 
General McClellan received the Richmond papers regularly, 
and he (Lee) knew of the nervous apprehension concerning 
Washington. He then said that he would retire to another 
room to attend to some office work, and would leave us to 
arrange the details among ourselves. The main point in 
his mind seemed to be that the crossings of the Chicka- 
hominy should be uncovered by Jackson's advance down the 
left bank, so that the other three divisions might not suffer 
in making a forced passage. 

During the absence of General Lee, Longstreet said to 
Jackson : " As you have the longest march to make, and 
are likely to meet opposition, you had better fix the time 
for the attack to begin." Jackson replied : " Daylight of 
the 26th." Longstreet then said : " You will encounter 
Federal cavalry and roads blocked by felled timber, if noth- 
ing more formidable: ought you not to give yourself more 
time?" When General Lee returned, he ordered A. P. 
Hill to cross at Meadow Bridge, Longstreet at the Mechan- 



The Seven Days' Fighting 135 

icsville Bridge, and me to follow Longstreet. The con- 
ference broke up about nightfall. 

One of the saddest things connected with the miserable 
fratricidal war was the breaking up of ties of friendship 
and of blood. The troops opposing mine on that murder- 
ous field that day were the regulars of General George 
Sykes, a Southerner by birth, and my room-mate at West 
Point, — a man admired by all for his honor, courage, and 
frankness, and peculiarly endeared to me by his social qual- 
ities. During the negotiations of the cartel for the ex- 
change of prisoners, intrusted to General Dix and myself, 
I sent word to General Sykes, through Colonel N. B. 
Sweitzer, of General McClellan's staff, that " had I known 
that he was in front of me at Cold Harbor, I would have 
sent some of my North Carolina boys up to take him out 
of the cold." He replied through the same source: "I 
appreciate the sarcasm, but our time will be next and the 
tables will be turned." Alas ! it was a true prophecy. 
About 9 p. M. on the 27th, Major H. B. Clitz was brought 
into my room at the McGehee house, headquarters for the 
night, wounded in the leg, and a prisoner. He was very 
young and boyish-looking when he entered West Point, 
and was a very great favorite with us of maturer years. It 
flashed upon my mind how, in the Mexican War, as his 
regiment filed past, I had almost a fatherly fear lest he 
should be struck ; and now he was here, wounded by one of 
my own men ! He was tenderly cared for by my medical 
director. Doctor Mott, and I was delighted to learn that he 
would not lose his leg. The next morning General John 
F. Reynolds was brought in as a prisoner. He had been 
my messmate in the old army for more than a year, and 
for half that time my tent-mate. Not an unkind word had 



136 The Civil War 

ever passed between us. General Reynolds seemed con- 
fused and mortified at his position. He sat down and cov- 
ered his face with his hands, and at length said : " Hill, 
we ought not to be enemies." I told him that there was no 
bad feeling on my part, and that he ought not to fret at the 
fortunes of war, which were notoriously fickle. He was 
placed in my ambulance and sent over to Richmond, declin- 
ing a loan of Confederate money. General Reynolds had 
gone to sleep in the woods between the battle-ground and 
the Chickahominy, and when he awoke, his troops were 
gone and the bridge was broken down. 

During Lee's absence Richmond was at the mercy of 
McClellan. 

The fortifications around Richmond at that time were 
very slight. McClellan could have captured the city with 
very little loss of life. The want of supplies would have 
forced Lee to attack him as soon as possible, with all the 
disadvantages of a precipitated movement. But McClellan 
seems to have contemplated nothing of the kind ; and as 
he placed the continuance of the siege upon the hazard of 
Cold Harbor, he was bound to put every available man into 
that fight. 

THE ARMY AND THE CONDUCT OF THE MEN 

By William B. Franklin, Major-General, U. S. V. 

A short time after I separated from General McClellan 
at the junction of the Charles City and Quaker roads, I 
bade farewell to the Prince de Joinville, who told me that 
he and his nephews were about to leave us and return to 
Europe. He had always been very friendly, and now ex- 
pressed many good wishes for my future. Holding my 



The Seven Days' Fighting 137 

hand in his, he said, with great earnestness, " General, ad- 
vise General McClellan to concentrate his army at this point, 
and fight a battle to-day; if he does, he will be in Rich- 
mond to-morrow." I was much impressed by his manner 
and by what he said, and from the purely military point 
of view the advice may have been good; but it was im- 
practicable for me to adopt the suggestion. General Mc- 
Clellan was then well on his way to the James River, and 
I had no right to leave my command. It was impossible to 
concentrate the army there that day early enough to give 
battle, and had it been possible to risk a general engagement 
there, it would have been contrary to General McClellan's 
views as to his responsibility connected with the safety of 
the army, views which were actuating him in the very move- 
ment then taking place. It is likely from what we know 
now, that had it been possible to follow the prince's ad- 
vice, his military forecast might have proved correct. But 
no one at that hour could have predicted the paralysis of 
Jackson's large force in our rear for the whole of that day, 
nor General Lee's ignorance of McClellan's intentions. 
Had a general engagement taken place, and had we been 
defeated, the army would have reached the James River, 
it is true, but instead of getting there as it did, with its 
morale unharmed, and with slight damage to its men and 
material, it would have been a disorganized mob, and as 
an army would have perished miserably. General McClel- 
lan believed that the destruction of the Army of the Poto- 
mac at that time would have been ruin to our cause, and 
his actions, for which he al'one is responsible, were guided 
by that belief and by the conviction that at any sacrifice the 
preservation of that army, at that time, was paramount to 
every other consideration. 



138 The Civil War 

I cannot finish without a word as to the conduct of the 
men. My experience during the period generally known 
as " the Seven Days " was with the 6th and 2d Corps. 
During the whole time between June 26th and July 2d, there 
was not a night in which the men did not march almost 
continually, nor a day on which there was not a fight. I 
never saw a skulker during the whole time, nor heard one 
insubordinate word. Some men fell by the wayside, ex- 
hausted, and were captured; but their misfortune was due to 
physical inability to go on. They had no food but that 
which was carried in their haversacks, and the hot weather 
soon rendered that uneatable. Sleep was out of the ques- 
tion, and the only rest obtained was while lying down 
awaiting an attack, or sheltering themselves from shot and 
shell. No murmur was heard ; everything was accepted as 
the work for which they had enlisted. They had been 
soldiers less than a year, yet their conduct could not have 
been more soldierly had they seen ten years of service. No 
such material for soldiers was ever in the field before, and 
their behavior in this movement foreshadowed their success 
as veterans at Appomattox. 

AN ESTIMATE OF GENERAL LEE 

By James Longstreet, Lieutenant-General, C. S. A. 

When General Joseph E. Johnston was wounded at the 
battle of Seven Pines, and General Lee assumed his new 
duties as commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, 
General Stonewall Jackson was in the Shenandoah Valley, 
and the rest of the Confederate troops were east and north 
of Richmond in front of General George B. McClellan's 
army, then encamped about the Chickahominy River, 100,- 



The Seven Days' Fighting 



139 




000 strong, and preparing for a 
regular siege of the Confederate 
capital. The situation required 
prompt and successful action of 
General Lee. Very early in June 
he called about him, on the noted 
Nine-mile road near Richmond, 
all his commanders, and asked 
each in turn his opinion of the 
military situation. I had my own 
views, but did not express them, 
believing that if they were impor- 
tant it was equally important that Robert E. Lee. 
they should be unfolded privately to the commanding gen- 
eral. The next day I called on General Lee, and sug- 
gested my plan for driving the Federal forces away from 
the Chickahominy, where they were then located. 

The Seven Days' Fighting, although a decided Confed- 
erate victory, was a succession of mishaps. If Jackson 
had arrived on the 26th — the day of his own selection — 
the Federals would have been driven back from Mechanics- 
ville without a battle. His delay there, caused by obstruc- 
tions placed in his road by the enemy, was the first mishap. 
He was too late in entering the fight at Gaines's Mill, and 
the destruction of Grapevine Bridge kept him from reaching 
Frayser's farm until the day after the battle. H he had 
been there, we might have destroyed or captured McClellan's 
army. Huger was in position for the battle of Frayser's 
farm, and after his batteries had misled me into opening the 
fight he subsided. Holmes and Magruder, who were on 
the New Market road to attack the Federals as they passed 
that way, failed to do so. 



140 



The Civil War 




General McClellan's retreat was suc- 
cessfully managed; therefore, we must 
give it credit for being well managed. 
He had 100,000 men, and insisted 
to the authorities at Washington 
that Lee had 200,000. In fact, Lee 
had only 90,000. General McClel- 
lan's plan to take Richmond by a 
siege was wise enough, and it would 
have been a succcess if the Con- 
^ federates had consented to such a 
program. In spite of McClellan's 
excellent plans, General Lee, with a 
force inferior in numbers, com- 
pletely routed him, and while suf- 
fering less than McClellan, cap- 
tured over six thousand of his 
men. General Lee's plans in the Seven Days' Fight were 
excellent, but were poorly executed. General McClellan 
was a very accomplished soldier and a very able engi- 
neer, but hardly equal to the position of field-marshal 
as a military chieftain. He organized the Army of the 
Potomac cleverly, but did not handle it skilfully when in 
actual battle. Still I doubt if his retreat could have been 
better handled, though the rear of his army should have 
been more positively either in his own hands or in the hands 
of Sumner. Heintzelman crossed the White Oak Swamp 
prematurely and left the rear of McClellan's army exposed, 
which would have been fatal had Jackson come up and taken 
part in Magruder's afifair of the 29th near Savage's Sta- 
tion. 

I cannot close this sketch without referring to the Con- 



" Gin'l Longstreet's body- 
servant, sail, endu'in' 
de Wah!". 



The Seven Days' Fighting 141 

federate commander when he came upon the scene for the 
first time. General Lee was an unusually handsome man, 
even in his advanced life. He seemed fresh from West 
Point, so trim was his figure and so elastic his step. Out 
of battle he was as gentle as a woman, but when the clash 
of arms came he loved fight, and urged his battle with won- 
derful determination. As a usual thing he was remarka- 
bly well-balanced — always so, except on one or two oc- 
casions of severe trial when he failed to maintain his exact 
equipoise. Lee's orders were always well considered and 
well chosen. He depended almost too much on his officers 
for their execution. Jackson was a very skilful man against 
such men as Shields, Banks, and Fremont, but when pitted 
against the best of the Federal commanders he did not ap- 
pear so well. Without doubt the greatest man, of rebel- 
lion times, the one matchless among forty millions for the 
peculiar difficulties of the period, was Abraham Lincoln. 




PASSAGES FROM LINCOLN 

letter to horace greeley 

August 22, 1862. 
Dear Sir: 

I have just read yours of the 19th addressed to myself 
through the New York Tribune. If there be in it any state- 
ments or assumptions of fact which I may know to be er- 
roneous, I do not, now and here, controvert them. If 
there be in it any inferences which I may beHeve to be 
falsely drawn, I do not, now and here argue against them. 
If there be perceptible in it an impatient and dictatorial 
tone, I waive it in deference to an old friend whose heart I 
have always supposed to be right. 

As to the policy I " seem to be pursuing," as you say, I 
have not meant to leave any one in doubt. 

I would save the Union. I would save it the shortest 
way under the Constitution. The sooner the national au- 
thority can be restored, the nearer the Union will be " the 
Union as it was." If there be those who would not save 
the Union unless they could at the same time save slavery, 
I do not agree with them. If there be those who would 
not save the Union unless they could at the same time de- 
stroy slavery, I do not agree with them. My paramount 
object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not 
either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the 
Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; and if I 

could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it ; and if I 

142 



Passages From Lincoln 143 

could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I 
would also do that. What I do about slavery and the col- 
ored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union ; 
and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it 
would help to save the Union. I shall do less whenever I 
shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall 
do more whenever I shall believe doing more will help the 
cause. I shall try to correct errors when shown to be er- 
rors, and I shall adopt new views so fast as they shall ap- 
pear to be true views. 

I have stated here my purpose according to my view of 
official duty; and I intend no modification of my oft-ex- 
pressed personal wish that all men everywhere could be free. 

Yours, 

A. Lincoln. 

emancipation proclamation 

January i, 1863. 
Whereas, on the twenty-second day of September, in the 
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty- 
two, a proclamation was issued by the President of the 
United States, containing, among other things, the follow- 
ing, to-wit: 

That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one 
thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves 
within any State, or designated part of a State, the people whereof 
shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, 
thenceforward, and forever free ; and the Executive Government 
of the United States, including the military and naval authority 
thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, 
and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, 
in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom. 



144 ^^^ Civil War 

That the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, 
by proclamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in 
which the people thereof respectively shall then be in rebellion 
against the United States ; and the fact that any State, or the people 
thereof, shall on that day be in good faith represented in the Con- 
gress of the United States by members chosen thereto at elections 
wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such State shall have 
participated, shall in the absence of strong countervailing testimony 
be deemed conclusive evidence that such State and the people 
thereof are not then in rebellion against the United States. 

Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincohi, President of the 
United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as com- 
mander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States, 
in time of actual armed rebelHon against the authority and 
government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary 
war measure for suppressing said rebelhon, do, on this first 
day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight 
hundred and sixty-three, and in accordance with my purpose 
so to do, publicly proclaimed for the. full period of lOO 
days from the day first above mentioned, order and desig- 
nate as the States and parts of States wherein the people 
thereof, respectively, are this day in rebellion against the 
United States, the following, to-wit : 

Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana (except the parishes of St. 
Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. 
James, Ascension, Assumption, Terrebonne, Lafourche, St. 
Mary, St. Martin, and Orleans, including the city of New 
Orleans), Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South 
Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia (except the forty- 
eight counties designated as West Virginia, and also the 
counties of Berkeley, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth 
City, York, Princess Anne, and Norfolk, including the cities 
of Norfolk and Portsmouth), and which excepted parts are 



Passages From Lincoln 145 

for the present left precisely as if the proclamation were not 
issued. 

And by the virtue of the power and for the purpose afore- 
said, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves 
within said designated States and parts of States are, and 

/l^^tSto^ err ^e-t<yhjvtt-^ k^^CCr o^co M^^^ fTuu ^ixo^rMj 

A part of President Lincoln's draft of the Emancipation Proclamation. 

henceforward shall be, free ; and that the Executive Gov- 
ernment of the United States, including the military and 
naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the 
freedom of said persons. 

And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be 
free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self- 




146 The Civil War 

defense : and I recommend to them that, in all cases when 
allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages. 

And I further declare and make known that such persons 
of suitable condition will be received into the armed service 
of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, 
and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said 
service. 

And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of jus- 
tice, warranted by the Constitution upon military necessity, 
I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the 
gracious favor of Almighty God. 

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and 
caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. 

Done at the city of Washington, this first 

day of January, in the year of our Lord one 

[l. s.] thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and 

of the independence of the United States of 

America the eighty-seventh. 

Abraham Lincoln. 
By the President : 

William H. Seward, 

Secretary of State. 

THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS [NOVEMBER I9, 1863] 

Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth 
on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and 
dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. 

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether 
that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, 
can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that 
war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field 
as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives 



Passages From Lincoln 147 

that that nation might hve. It is altogether fitting and 
proper that we should do this. 

But, in a large sense, we cannot dedicate — we cannot 
consecrate — we cannot hallow — this ground. The brave 
men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated 
it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world 
will little note nor long remember what we say here, but 
it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the 
living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work 
which they who fought here have thus far so nobly ad- 
vanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the 
great task remaining before us — that from these honored 
dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which 
they gave the last full measure of devotion ; that we here 
highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; 
that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of free- 
dom; and that government of the people, by the people, for 
the people, shall not perish from the earth. 

letter of condolence to mrs. bixby of boston, mass. 

November 21, 1864. 
Dear Madam: 

I have been shown in the files of the War Department a 
statement of the Adjutant-General of Massachusetts that 
you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously 
on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must 
be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you 
from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot 
refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be 
found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. I 
pray that our heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of 
your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished mem- 



148 The Civil War 

ory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must 
be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of 
freedom. 

Yours very sincerely and respectfully, 

Abraham Lincoln. 

the war and slavery (1864) 
(From a letter to A. G. Hodges, Frankfort, Ky.) 

I am naturally antislavery. If slavery is not wrong, 
nothing is wrong. I cannot remember when I did not 
so think and feel, and yet I have never understood that the 
presidency conferred upon me an unrestricted right to act 
officially upon this judgment and feeling. It was in the 
oath I took that I would, to the best of my ability, preserve, 
protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. 
I could not take the office without taking the oath. Nor 
was it my view that I might take an oath to get power and 
break the oath in using the power. I understood, too, that 
in ordinary civil administration this oath even forbade me 
to practically indulge my primary abstract judgment on the 
moral question of slavery. I had publicly declared this 
many times, and in many ways. And I aver that, to this 
day, I have done no official act in mere deference to my ab- 
stract judgment and feeling on slavery, I did understand, 
however, that my oath to preserve the Constitution to the 
best of my ability imposed upon me the duty of preserving, 
by every indispensable means, that government — that na- 
tion, of which that Constitution was the organic law. Was 
it possible to lose the nation and yet preserve the Constitu- 
tion? By general law, life and limb must be protected, yet 
often a limb must be amputated to save a life; but a life is 
never wisely given to save a limb. I felt that measures 



Passages From Lincoln 149 

otherwise unconstitutional might become lawful by becom- 
ing indispensable to the preservation of the Constitution 
through the preservation of the nation. Right or wrong, 
I assumed this ground, and now avow it. I could not feel 
that, to the best of my ability, I had even tried to preserve 
the Constitution, if, to save slavery or any minor matter, 
I should permit the wreck of government, country, and 
Constitution all together. When, early in the war. General 
Fremont attempted military emancipation, I forbade it, be- 
cause I did not then think it an indispensable necessity. 
When, a little later. General Cameron, then Secretary of 
War, suggested the arming of the blacks, I objected because 
I did not yet think it an indispensable necessity. When, 
still later. General Hunter attempted military emancipation, 
I again forbade it, because I did not yet think the indis- 
pensable necessity had come. When in March and May 
and July, 1862, I made earnest and successive appeals to 
the border States to favor compensated emancipation, I 
believed the indispensable necessity for military emancipa- 
tion and arming the blacks would come unless averted by 
that measure. They declined the proposition, and I was, 
in my best judgment, driven to the alternative of either 
surrendering the Union, and with it the Constitution, or 
of laying strong hand upon the colored element. I chose 
the latter. 



RICHMOND SCENES IN '62 
By Constance Cary Harrison 

The first winter of the war was spent by our family in 
Richmond, where we found lodgings in a dismal rookery 
familiarly dubbed by its new occupants " The Castle of 
Otranto." It was the old-time Clifton Hotel, honey- 
combed by subterranean passages, and crowded to its limits 
with refugees like ourselves from country homes within 
or near the enemy's lines — or " 'fugees," as we were all 
called. For want of any common sitting-room, we took 
possession of what had been a doctor's office, a few steps 
distant down the hilly street, fitting it up to the best of our 
ability ; and there we received our friends, passing many 
merry hours. In rainy weather we reached it by an under- 
ground passage-way from the hotel, an alley through the 
catacombs; and many a dignitary of camp or state will recall 
those " Clifton " evenings. Already the pinch of war was 
felt in the commissariat ; and we had recourse occasionally to 
a contribution supper, or " Dutch treat," when the guests 
brought brandied peaches, boxes of sardines, French 
prunes, and bags of biscuit, while the hosts contributed only 
a roast turkey or a ham, with knives and forks. Demo- 
cratic feasts those were, where major-generals and " high 
privates " met on an equal footing. The hospitable old 
town was crowded with the families of officers and mem- 
bers of the Government. One house was made to do the 
work of several, many of the wealthy citizens generously 

150 



Richmond Scenes in '62 



151 



giving up their superfluous space to receive the new-comers. 
The only public event of note was the inauguration of Mr. 
Davis as President of the " Permanent Government " of 
the Confederate States, which we viewed by the courtesy 
of Mr. John R. Thompson, the State Librarian, from one 
of the windows of the Capitol. 

About March ist martial law was proclaimed in Rich- 
mond, and a fresh influx of refugees from Norfolk claimed 
shelter there. When the spring opened, as the spring does 




In the streets of Richmond 



Wounded from the Battle of Seven 
Pines. 



open in Richmond, with a sudden glory of green leaves, 
magnolia blooms, and flowers among the grass, our spirits 
rose after the depression of the latter months. If only to 
shake off the atmosphere of doubts and fears engendered 
by the long winter of disaster and uncertainty, the coming- 
activity of arms Avas welcome ! Personally speaking, there 
was vast improvement in our situation, since We had been 



152 The Civil War 

fortunate enough to find a real home in a pleasant brown- 
walled house on Franklin street, divided from the pavement 
by a garden full of bounteous greenery, where it was easy 
to forget the discomforts of our previous mode of life. 
I shall not attempt to describe the rapidity with which thrill- 
ing excitements succeeded each other in our experiences in 
this house. The gathering of many troops around the 
town filled the streets with a continually moving panorama 
of war, and we spent our time in greeting, cheering, choking 
with sudden emotion, and quivering in anticipation of what 
was yet to follow. We had now finished other battle-flags, 
and one of them was bestowed upon the " Washington 
Artillery " of New Orleans, a body of admirable soldiers 
who had wakened to enthusiasm the daughters of Virginia 
in proportion, I dare say, to the woe they had created 
among the daughters of Louisiana in bidding them good- 
by. One morning an orderly arrived to request that the 
ladies would be out upon the veranda at a given hour; 
and, punctual to the time fixed, the travel-stained battalion 
filed past our house. These were no holiday soldiers. 
Their gold was tarnished and their scarlet faded by sun 
and wind and gallant service — they were veterans now 
on their way to the front, where the call of duty never 
failed to find the flower of Louisiana. As they came in 
line with us, the officers saluted with their swords, the 
band struck up " My Maryland," the tired soldiers sitting 
upon the caissons that dragged heavily through the muddy 
street set up a rousing cheer. And there in the midst of 
them, taking the April wind with daring color, was our 
flag dipping low until it passed us ! One must grow old 
and cold indeed before such things are forgotten. 

A few days later, on coming out of church — it is a 



Richmond Scenes in '62 153 

curious fact that most of our exciting news spread over 
Richmond on Sunday, and just at that hour — we heard 
of the crushing blow of the fall of New Orleans and the 
destruction of our iron-clads. My brother had just reported 
aboard one of those splendid ships, as yet unfinished. As 
the news came directly from our kinsman, General Ran- 
dolph, the Secretary of War, there was no doubting it. 

For a time nothing was talked of but the capture of 
New Orleans. Of the midshipman, my brother, we heard 
that on the day previous to the taking of the forts, after 
several days' bombardment by the United States fleet under 
Flag-Officer Farragut, he had been sent in charge of ord- 
nance and deserters to a Confederate vessel in the river; 
that Lieutenant R , a friend of his, on the way to re- 
port at Fort Jackson during the hot shelling, had invited 
the lad to accompany him by way of a pleasure trip; that 
while they were crossing the moat around Fort Jackson, 
in a canoe, and under heavy fire, a thirteen-inch mortar- 
shell had struck the water near, half filling their craft; and 
that, after watching the fire from this point for an hour, 

C had pulled back again alone, against the Mississippi 

current, under fire for a mile and a half of the way — 
passing an astonished alligator who had been hit on the 
head by a piece of shell and was dying under protest. 

Aboard the steamship Star of the West, next day he and 
other midshipmen in charge of gold and silver coin from 
the mint and banks of New Orleans, and millions more 
of paper money, over which they were ordered to keep 
guard with drawn swords, hurried away from the doomed 
city, where the enemy's arrival was momentarily expected, 
and where the burning ships and steamers and bales of 
cotton along the levee made a huge crescent of fire. Keep- 



154 



The Civil War 



ing just ahead of the enemy's fleet, they reached Vicks- 
burg, and thence went overland to Mobile, where their 
charge was given up in safety. 

And now we come to the 31st of May, 1862, when the 
eyes of the whole continent turned to Richmond. On that 
day Johnston assaulted the Federals who had been ad- 




Richmond from the Manchester side of the James. 

vanced to Seven Pines. In face of recent reverses, we in 
Richmond had begun to feel like the prisoner of the In- 
quisition in Poe's story, cast into a dungeon of slowly con- 
tracting walls. With the sound of guns, therefore, in the 
direction of Seven Pines, every heart leaped as if deliver- 
ance were at hand. And yet there was no joy in the 
wild pulsation, since those to whom we looked for succor 
were our own flesh and blood, barring the way to a foe 
of superior numbers, abundantly provided, as we were not, 
with all the equipments of modern warfare, and backed 
by a mighty nation as determined as ourselves to win. 
Hardly a family in the town Avhose father, son, or brother 
was not a part and parcel of the defending army. 



Richmond Scenes in '62 



155 



When on the afternoon of the 31st it became known that 
the engagement had begun, the women of Richmond were 
still going" about their daily vocations quietly, giving no 
sign of the inward anguish of apprehension. There was 
enough to do now in preparation for the wounded; yet, as 
events proved, all that was done was not enough by half. 
Night brought a lull in the cannonading. People lay down 
dressed upon beds, but not to sleep, while the weary sol- 
diers slept upon their arms. Early next morning the whole 
town was on the street. Ambulances, litters, carts, every 
vehicle that the city could produce, went and came with 
a ghastly burden ; those who could walk limped painfully 
home, in some cases so black with gunpowder they passed 
unrecognized. Women with pallid faces flitted bareheaded 
through the streets searching for their dead or wounded. 
The churches were thrown open, many people visiting them 
for a sad communion-service or brief time of prayer; the 
lecture-rooms of various places of worship were crowded 
with ladies volunteering to 
sew, as fast as fingers could 
fly, the rough beds called for 
by the surgeons. Men too old 
or infirm to fight went on 
horseback or afoot to meet the 
returning ambulances, and in 
sonie cases served as escort to 
their own dying sons. By 
afternoon of the day following 
the battle, the streets were one 
vast hospital. To find shelter 
for the sufferers a number of 
unused buildings were thrown The old Clinton Hotel. 




156 The Civil War 

open. I remember, especially, the St. Charles Hotel, a 
gloomy place, where two young girls went to look for 
a member of their family, reported wounded. We had 
tramped in vain over pavements burning with the intensity 
of the sun, from one scene of horror to another, until our 
feet and brains alike seemed about to serve us no further. 
The cool of those vast dreary rooms of the St. Charles was 
refreshing; but such a spectacle! Men in every stage of 
mutilation lying on the bare boards, with perhaps a haversack 
or an army blanket beneath their heads — some dying, all 
suffering keenly, while waiting their turn to be attended 
to. To be there empty-handed and impotent nearly broke 
our hearts. We passed from one to the other, making 
such slight additions to their comfort as were possible, 
while looking in every upturned face in dread to find the 
object of our search. This sorrow, I may add, was spared, 
the youth arriving at home later with a slight flesh-wound. 
The condition of things at this and other improvised hos- 
pitals was improved next day by the offerings from many 
churches of pew-cushions, which, sewn together, served 
as comfortable beds; and for the remainder of the war 
their owners thanked God upon bare benches for every 
" misery missed " that was " mercy gained." To supply 
food for the hospitals the contents of larders all over town 
were emptied into baskets. There was not much going to 
bed that night, either ; and I remember spending the greater 
part of it leaning from my window to seek the cool night 
air, while wondering as to the fate of those near to me. 
There was a summons to my mother about midnight. Two 
soldiers came to tell her of the wounding of one close of 
kin ; but she was already on duty elsewhere, tireless and 
watchful as ever. Up to that time the younger girls had 



Richmond Scenes in '62 157 

been regarded as superfluities in hospital service ; but on 
Monday two of us found a couple of rooms where fifteen 
wounded men lay upon pallets around the floor, and, on 
offering our services to the surgeons in charge, were proud 
to have them accepted and to be installed as responsible 
nurses, under direction of an older and more experienced 
woman. The constant activity our work entailed was a 
relief from the strained excitement of life after the battle 
of Seven Pines. When the first flurry of distress was over, 
the residents of those pretty houses standing back in gar- 
dens full of roses set their cooks to work, or, better still, 
went themselves into the kitchen, to compound delicious 
messes for the wounded, after the appetizing old Virginia 
recipes. Flitting about the streets in the direction of the 
hospitals were smiling, white- jacketed negroes, carrying 
silver trays with dishes of fine porcelain under napkins of 
thick white damask, containing soups, creams, jellies, thin 
biscuits, eggs a la crcinc, boiled chicken, etc., surmounted 
by clusters of freshly gathered flowers. A year later we 
had cause to pine after these culinary glories when it came 
to measuring out, with sinking hearts, the meager portions 
of milk and food we could afford to give our charges. 

As an instance, however, that quality in food was not 
always appreciated by the patients, my mother urged upon 
one of her sufferers (a gaunt and soft-voiced Carolinian 
from the " piney woods district") a delicately served trifle 
from some neighboring kitchen. 

" Jes ez you say, old miss," was the weary answer; "I 
ain't a-contradictin' you. It mout be good for me, but my 
stomick's kinder sot agin it. There ain't but one thing 
I'm sorter yarnin' arter, an' that's a dish o' greens en bacon 
fat, with a few molarses poured onto it." 



158 The Civil War 

From our patients, when they could syllable the tale, we 
had accounts of the fury of the fight, which were made 
none the less horrible by such assistance as imagination could 
give to the facts. I remember they told us of shot thrown 
from the enemy's batteries, that plowed their way through 
lines of flesh and blood before exploding in showers of 
musket-balls to do still further havoc. Before these awful 
missiles, it was said, our men had fallen in swaths, the 
living closing over them to press forward in the charge. 

It was at the end of one of these narrations that a piping 
voice came from a pallet in the corner : " They fit right 
smart, them Yanks did, I tell you!'' and not to laugh was 
as much of an effort as it had just been not to cry. 

From one scene of death and suffering to another we 
passed during those days of June. Under a withering heat 
that made the hours preceding dawn the only ones of the 
twenty-four endurable in point of temperature, and a 
shower-bath the only form of diversion we had time or 
thought to indulge in, to go out-of-doors was sometimes 
worse than remaining in our wards. But one night after 
several of us had been walking about town in a state of 
panting exhaustion, palm-leaf fans in hand, a friend per- 
suaded us to ascend to the small platform on the summit 
of the Capitol, in search of fresher air. To reach it was 
like going through a vapor-bath, but an hour amid the cool 
breezes above the tree-tops of the square was a tiling of 
joy unspeakable. 

During all this time President Davis was a familiar and 
picturesque figure on the streets, walking through the Capi- 
tol square from his residence to the executive ofiice in the 
morning, not to return until late in the afternoon, or riding 
just before nightfall to visit one or another of the encamp- 



Richmond Scenes in '62 



159 



ments near the city. He was tall, erect, slender, and of a 
dignified and soldierly bearing, with clear-cut • and high- 
bred features, and of a demeanor of stately courtesy to all. 
He was clad always in 
Confederate gray cloth, 
and wore a soft felt hat 
with wide brim. Afoot, 
his step was brisk and 
firm ; in the saddle he 
rode admirably and with 
a martial aspect. His 
early life had been spent 
in the Military Academy 
at West Point and upon 
the then northwestern 
frontier in the Black 
Hawk War, and he after- 
ward greatly distin- 
guished himself at Mont- 
erey and Buena Vista in 
Mexico ; at the time when 
we knew him, everything 
in his appearance and 
manner was suggestive of such a training. 

When on the 27th of June the Seven Days' strife began, 
there was none of the excitement that had attended the 
battle of Seven Pines. People had shaken themselves down, 
as it were, to the grim reality of a fight that must be fought. 

It is not my purpose to deal with the history of those 
awful Seven Days. Mine only to speak of the other side 
of that canvas in which heroes of two armies were passing 
and repassing, as on some huge Homeric frieze, in the 




Jefferson Davis. 



i6o The Civil War 

manoeuvers of a strife that hung our land in mourning. 
The scars of war are healed when this is written, and the 
vast " pity of it " fills the heart that wakes the retrospect. 

What I have said of Richmond before these battles will 
suffice for a picture of the summer's experience. When 
the tide of battle receded, what wrecked hopes it left to tell 
the tale of the Battle Summer! Victory w^as ours, but in 
how many homes was heard the voice of lamentation to 
drown the shouts of triumph ! Many families, rich and 
poor alike, were bereaved of their dearest; and for many of 
the dead there was mourning by all the town. No incident 
of the war, for instance, made a deeper impression than 
the fall in battle of Colonel Munford's beautiful and brave 
young son, Ellis, whose body, laid across his own caisson, 
was carried that summer to his father's house at nightfall, 
where the family, unconscious of their loss, were sitting 
in cheerful talk around the portal. Another son of Rich- 
mond, whose death was keenly felt by everybody, received 
his mortal wound at the front of the first charge to break 
the enemy's line at Gaines's Mill. This was Lieutenant- 
Colonel Bradfute Warwick, a young hero who had won 
his spurs in service with Garibaldi. Losses like these are 
irreparable in any community ; and so, with lamentations in 
nearly every household, while the spirit along the lines con- 
tinued unabated, it was a chastened " Thank God " that 
went up among us when we knew the siege of Richmond 
was over. 




THE ALABAMA AND THE KEARSARGE 
By the Surgeon of the Kearsarge 

On Sunday, the 12th of June, 
1864, the Kearsarge, Captain John 
A, Winslow, was lying at anchor in 
the Scheldt, off Flushing, Holland. 
The cornet suddenly appeared at 
the fore, and a gun was fired. These 
were unexpected signals that com- 
' pelled absent officers and men to re- 

turn to the ship. Steam was raised, and as soon as we 
were off, and all hands called. Captain Winslow gave the 
welcome news of a telegram from Mr. Dayton, our min- 
ister to France, announcing that the Alabama had arrived 
the day previous at Cherbourg; hence, the urgency of de- 
parture, the probability of an encounter, and the expectation 
of her capture or destruction. The crew responded with 
cheers. The succeeding day witnessed the arrival of the 
Kearsarge at Dover, for dispatches ; and the day after 
(Tuesday) her appearance off Cherbourg, where we saw the 
Confederate flag flying within the breakwater. Approach- 
ing nearer, officers and men gathered in groups on deck 
and looked intently at the " daring rover," that had been 
able for two years to escape numerous foes and to inflict 
immense damage on our commerce. She was a beautiful 
specimen of naval architecture. The surgeon went on 

shore and obtained permission to visit the port for boats. 
II 161 



i62 The Civil War 

Owing to the neutrality limitation which would not allow 
us to remain in the harbor longer than twenty- four hours, 
it was inexpedient to enter the port. We placed a vigilant 
watch by turns at each of the harbor entrances, and con- 
tinued it to the moment of the engagement. 

On Wednesday Captain Winslow paid an official visit to 
the French admiral commanding the maritime district, and 
to the United States commercial agent, bringing on his re- 
turn the unanticipated news that Captain Semmes had de- 
clared his intention to fight. At first the assertion was 
barely credited, the policy of the Alabama being regarded as 
opposed to conflict, and to escape rather than to be exposed 
to injury, perhaps destruction; but the doubters were half 
convinced when the so-called challenge was known to read 
as follows : 

C. S. S. Alabama, Cherbourg, June 14, 1864. 
To A. BonMs, Esq., Cherbourg. 

Sir: I hear that you were informed by the U. S. Consul that 
the Kearsargc was to come to this port solely for the prisoners 
landed by me, and that she was to depart in twenty-four hours. 
I desire you to say to the U. S. Consul that my intention is to fight 
the Kearsarge, as soon as I can make the necessary arrangements. 
I hope these will not detain me more than until to-morrow even- 
ing, or after the morrow morning at furthest. I beg she will not 
depart before I am ready to go out. 

I have the honor to be very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

R. Semmes, Captain. 

Preparations were made for battle, with no relaxation of 
the watch. Thursday passed ; Friday came ; the Kearsargc 
waited with ports down, guns pivoted to starboard, the 
whole battery loaded, and shell, grape, and canister ready 
to use in anv mode of attack or defense; vet no Alabama 



The Alabama and the Kearsarge 163 

appeared. French pilots came on board and told of un- 
usual arrangements made by the enemy, such as the hurried 
takino- of coals, the transmission of valuable articles to the 




The boat from the Alabama announcing the surrender and asking for 

assistance. 
The picture shows shot-marks in the thin deal covering of the chain armor amidships. 

shore, such as captured chronometers, specie, and the bills 
of ransomed vessels ; and the sharpening of swords, cut- 
lasses, and boarding-pikes. It was reported that Captain 



164 The Civil War 

Semmes had been advised not to give battle. He replied 
he would prove to the world that his ship was not a priva- 
teer, intended only for attack upon merchant vessels, but 
a true man-of-war; further, he had consulted French offi- 
cers, who all asserted that in his situation they would fight. 
Certain newspapers declared that he ought to improve the 
opportunity afforded by the presence of the enemy to show 
that his ship was not a " corsair," to prey upon defenseless 
merchantmen, but a real ship-of-war, able and willing to 
fight the " Federal " waiting outside the harbor. It was 
said the Alabama was swift, with a superior crew, and it was 
known that the ship, guns, and ammunition were of English 
make. 

Sunday the 19th came; a fine day, atmosphere somewhat 
hazy, little sea, light westerly wind. At ten o'clock the 
Kearsargc was near the buoy marking the line of shoals to 
the eastward of Cherbourg, at a distance of about three 
miles from the entrance. The decks had been holystoned, 
the bright work cleaned, the guns polished, and the crew 
were dressed in Sunday suit. They were inspected at quar- 
ters and dismissed to attend divine service. Seemingly no 
one thought of the enemy ; so long awaited and not appear- 
ing, speculation as to her coming had nearly ceased. At 
10:20 the officer of the deck reported a steamer approach- 
ing from Cherbourg, — a frequent occurrence, and conse- 
quently it created no surprise. The bell was tolling for 
service when some one shouted, " She 's coming, and head- 
ing straight for us ! " Soon, by the aid of a glass, the offi- 
cer of the deck made out the enemy and shouted, " The 
Alabama ! " and calling down the ward-room hatch repeated 
the cry, " The Alabama! " The drum beat to general quar- 
ters ; Captain Winslow put aside the prayer-book, seized the 



The Alabama and the Kearsarge 165 

trumpet, ordered the ship about and headed seaward. The 
ship was cleared for action, with the battery pivoted to star- 
board. 

The Alabama approached from the western entrance, es- 
corted by the French iron-clad frigate Couronne, flying the 
pennant of the commandant of the port. 

Captain Winslow had assured the French admiral that in 
the event of an engagement the position of the ship should 
be far enough from shore to prevent a violation of the law 
of nations. To avoid a question of jurisdiction and to 
avert an escape to neutral waters in case of retreat, the 
Kearsarge steamed to sea, followed by the enemy, giving 
the appearance of running away and being pursued. 

The action was now fairly begun. A shot from an early 
broadside of the Kearsarge carried away the spanker-gaff of 
the enemy, and caused his ensign to come down by the run. 
This incident was regarded as a favorable omen by the men, 
who cheered and went with increased confidence to their 
work. The fallen ensign reappeared at the mizzen. The 
Alabama returned to solid shot, and soon after fired both 
shot and shell to the end. The firing of the Alabama was 
rapid and wild, getting better near the close ; that of the 
Kearsarge was deliberate, accurate, and almost from the 
beginning productive of dismay, destruction, and death. ^ 
The Kearsarge gunners had been cautioned against firing 
without direct aim, and had been advised to point the heavy 
guns below rather than above the water-line, and to clear 
the deck of the enemy with the lighter ones. Though sub- 



1 Captain Semmes in his official report says : " The firing now be- 
came very hot, and the enemy's shot and shell soon began to tell upon 
our hull, knocking down, killing, and disabling a number of men in 
different parts of the ship." 



i66 



The Civil War 



jected to an incessant storm of shot and shell, they kept their 
stations and obeyed instructions. 

The effect upon the enemy was readily perceived, and 
nothing could restrain the enthusiasm of our men. Cheer 
succeeded cheer ; caps were thrown in the air or overboard ; 
jackets were discarded ; sanguine of victory, the men were 
shouting as each projectile took effect: "That is a good 




The Kijrsaiyc getting ixady lo rak<j the Alabama. 

one ! " " Down, boys ! " " Give her another like the last ! " 
" Now we ha\-e her ! " and so on, cheering and shouting to 
the end. 

After exposure to an uninterrupted cannonade for eight- 
een minutes without casualties, a sixty-eight-pounder Blakely 
shell passed through the starboard bulwarks below the main 
rigging, exploded upon the quarter-deck, and wounded three 
of the crew of the after pivot-gun. With these exceptions, 
not an officer or man received serious injury. The three 
unfortunates were speedily taken below, and so quietly was 
the act done, that at the termination of the fight a large 
number of the men were unaware that any of their com- 
rades were wounded. Two shots entered the ports occu- 



The Alabama and the Kearsarge 167 

pied by the thirty-twos, where several men were stationed, 
one taking effect in the hammock-netting, the other going 
through the opposite port, yet none were hit. A shell ex- 
ploded in the hammock-netting and set the ship on fire; 
the alarm calling for fire-quarters was sounded, and men 
detailed for such an emergency put out the fire, while the rest 
stayed at the guns. . 

It is wonderful that so few casualties occurred on board 
the Kearsarge, considering the number on the Alabama — 
the former having fired one hundred and seventy-three shot 
and shell, and the latter nearly double that number. The 
Kearsarge concentrated her fire and poured in the eleven- 
inch shells with deadly effect. One penetrated the coal- 
bunker of the Alabama, and a dense cloud of coal-dust 
arose. Others struck near the water-line between the main 
and mizzen masts, explodedUvithin board, or passing through 
burst beyond. Crippled and torn, the Alabama moved less 
quickly and began to settle by the stern, yet did not slacken 
her fire, but returned successive broadsides without disas- 
trous result to us. 

Captain Semmes witnessed the havoc made by the shells, 
especially by those of our after pivot-gun, and offered a re- 
ward for its silence. Soon his battery was turned upon this 
particular offending gun for the purpose of silencing it. It 
was in vain, for the work of destruction went on. We 
had completed the seventh rotation on the circular track 
and begun the eighth ; the Alabama, now settling, sought 
to escape by setting all available sail (fore-trysail and two 
jibs), left the circle, amid a shower of shot and shell, and 
headed for the French waters ; but to no purpose. In wind- 
ing the Alabama presented the port battery with two guns 
bearing, and showing gaping sides through which water 



i68 



The Civil War 



washed. The Kearsargc pursued, keeping on a line nearer 
the shore and, with a few well-directed shots hastened the 
sinking condition. Then the Alabama was at our mercy. 
Her colors were struck and the Kearsarge ceased firing. 
Two of the junior officers, so I was told by our prisoners, 
swore they would never surrender, and in a mutinous spirit 
rushed to the two port guns and opened fire upon the Kear- 
sarge. Captain Winslow, amazed at this extraordinary 




The crew of the Kearsarge at quarters. 



conduct of an enemy who had hauled down his flag in 
token of surrender, exclaimed, "He is playing us a trick; 
give him another broadside." Again the shot and shell went 
crashing through her sides, and the Alabama continued to 
settle by the stern. The Kearsarge was laid across her 
bows for raking, and in position to use grape and canister. 
Over the stern of the Alabama a white flag was shown, 
and her ensign was half-masted, union down. Captain 
Winslow for the second time gave orders to cease firing. 



lyo 



The Civil War 



Thus ended the fight after a duration of one hour and two 
minutes. 

Boats were now lowered from the Alabama. Her mas- 
ter's-mate, Fullam, an Enghshman, came alongside the 
Kearsargc with a few of the wounded, reported the dis- 
abled and sinking condition of his ship, and asked for as- 




Sinking of the Alabama. 

sistance. Captain Winslow inquired, " Does Captain 
Semmes surrender his ship?" "Yes," was the reply. 
Fullam then solicited permission to return with his boat 
and crew to assist in rescuing the drowning, pledging his 
word of honor that when this was done he would come 
on board and surrender. Captain Winslow granted the re- 
quest. With less generosity he could have detained the 
officer and men, supplied their places in the boat from his 
ship's company, secured more prisoners, and afforded equal 
aid to the distressed. 



The Alabama and the Kearsarge 171 

It was now seen that the Alabama was settling fast. 
The wounded, and boys who could not swim, were sent 
away in the quarter boats, the waist boats having been de- 
stroyed. Captain Semmes dropped his sword into the sea 
and jumped overboard with the remaining officers and 
men. 




The fight between the Kearsarge and the Alabama. 



The Alabama sunk in forty-five fathoms of water, at a 
distance of about four and a half miles from the breakwater, 
off the west entrance. She was severely hulled between the 
main and mizzen masts, and settled by the stern ; the main- 
mast, pierced by a shot at the very last, broke off near the 
head and went over the side, the bow lifted high from the 
water, and then came the end. Suddenly assuming a per- 
pendicular position, caused by the falling aft of the battery 
and stores, straight as a plumb-line, stern first, she went 
down, the jib-boom being the last to appear above water. 



172 



The Civil War 



Down sank the terror of merchantmen, riddled through and 
through, and as she disappeared to her last resting-place 
there was no cheer ; all were silent. 




LIEUTENANT GUSHING AND THE RAM 
ALBEMARLE 

By Theodore Roosevelt 

The great Givil War was remarkable in many ways, but 
in no way more remarkable than for tlie extraordinary 
mixture of inventive mechanical genius and of resolute dar- 
ing shown by the combatants. After the first year, when 
the contestants had settled down to real fighting, and the 
preliminary mob-work was over, the battles were marked by 
their extraordinary obstinacy and heavy losses. In no Eu- 
ropean conflict since the close of the Napoleonic wars has 
the fighting been anything like so obstinate and so bloody 
as was the fighting in our own Givil War. Hundreds of 
regiments, both Northern and Southern, suffered each in 
some one engagement far more heavily than either the Light 
Brigade at Balaklava, or the Guards at Inkerman, or than 
any German regiment in the Franco-Prussian war; and yet 
they have gone entirely unnoticed by the poet, and dis- 
missed with but a scant line or two by the historian. In 
addition to this fierce and dogged courage, this splendid 
fighting capacity, the contest also brought out the skilled in- 
ventive power of engineer and mechanician in a way that 
few other contests have ever done. 

This was especially true in the navy. The fighting under 
and against Farragut and his fellow admirals revolutionized 
naval warfare. The Civil War marks the break between 

i72> 



174 



The Civil War 



the old style and the new. The ships with which Decatur 
and Perry and Hull and Porter won glory in 1812 were 




The blowing up of the Albemarle. 

essentially like those with which Drake and Hawkins and 
Frobisher had harried the Spanish armadas two centuries 
and a half earlier. They were essentially like the ships 



Gushing and the Ram Ambemarle 175 

that made up the fleets of Tromp and De Riiyter, as of 
Colhngwood and Nelson. But, in the Civil War, steam, 
iron armor, and entirely new weapons, worked such revo- 
lution that the fleets of to-day differ as widely from those 
of Nelson as did his ships-of-the-line from the galleys of 
Alcibiades twenty-two hundred years before. The steam- 
frigate, the iron-clad, the ram, and the torpedo in all its 
forms — the practical use of all these dates from the Civil 
War. Terrible encounters took place when these engines 
of war were brought into action for the first time, and 
one of these encounters has given an example which, for 
heroic daring combined with cool intelligence, is unsur- 
passed in all time. 

The Conferates showed the same skill and»energy in build- 
ing their great iron-clad rams as the men of the Union did 
in building the monitors which were so often pitted against 
them. Both sides, but especially the Confederates, also used 
stationary torpedoes, and on a number of occasions torpedo- 
boats likewise. These torpedo-boats were sometimes built 
to go under the water. One such, after repeated failures, 
was employed by the Confederates, with equal gallantry 
and success, in sinking a Union sloop-of-war off Charleston 
harbor. The torpedo-boat itself went to the bottom with 
its victim, all on board being drowned. The other type of 
torpedo-boat was simply a swift, ordinary steam-launch 
operated on the surface. 

It was this last type of boat which Lieutenant W. B. 
Cushing brought down to Albemarle Sound to use against the 
great Confederate ram Albemarle. The ram had been built 
for the purpose of destroying the Union blockading forces. 
Steaming down the river, she had twice attacked the Federal 
gun-boats, and in each case had sunk or disabled one or more 



176 The Civil War 

of them, with Httle injury to herself. She had retired up 
the river again to he at her wharf and refit. 

The gun-boats had suffered so severely as to make it a 
certainty that when the ram came out again, thoroughly 
fitted up, to renew the attack, the wooden vessels would be 
destroyed ; and, \\hile she was in existence the Union ves- 
sels could not attack and reduce the forts and coast towns. 
Just at this time Gushing came down from the North with 
his swift little torpedo-boat — an open launch with a spar 
rigged to push out in front, the torpedo being placed at 
the end. The crew of the launch consisted of fifteen men, 
Gushing being in command. He not only guided his craft, 
but himself handled the torpedo by means of two small ropes, 
one of which put it in place, while the other exploded 
it. The action of the torpedo was complicated, and it could 
not have been operated in a time of tremendous excite- 
ment save by a man of the utmost nerve and self-command. 
But Gushing had both ; he possessed precisely that combina- 
tion of reckless courage, presence of mind, and high mental 
capacity necessary to the man who leads a forlorn hope under 
peculiarly difficult circumstances. 

On the night of October 27, 1864, Gushing slipped away 
from the blockading fleet, and steamed up the river toward 
the wharf, a dozen miles distant, where the great ram lay. 
The Gonfederates were watchful to guard against surprise, 
for they feared lest their foes should try to destroy the 
ram before she got a chance to come down and attack them 
again in the Sound. She lay under the guns of a fort, with a 
regiment of troops ready at a moment's notice to turn out 
and defend her. Her own guns were kept always clear for 
action, and she was protected by a great boom of logs thrown 



Gushing and the Ram Ambemarle 177 

out roundabout, of which last defense the Federals knew 
nothing. 

Gushing went up-stream with the utmost caution, and by 
good luck passed, unnoticed, a Confederate lookout below 
the ram. 

About midnight he made his assault. Steaming quietly on 
through the black water, and feeling his way cautiously to- 
ward where he knew the town to be, he finally made out 
the loom of the Albemarle through the night, and at once 
drove at her. He was almost upon her before he was dis- 
covered ; then the crew and the soldiers on the wharf opened 
fire, and at the same moment he was brought to by the 
boom, the existence of which he had not known. The 
rifle-balls were singing about him as he stood erect guiding 
his launch, and he heard the bustle of the men aboard the 
ram, and the noise of the great guns as they were got ready. 
Backing off, he again went all steam ahead, and actually 
surged over the slippery log of the boom. 

Meanwhile, on the deck of the Albemarle the sailors were 
running to quarters, and the soldiers were swarming down 
to aid in her defense. And the droning bullets came always 
thicker through the dark night. Gushing still stood up- 
right in his little craft, guiding and controlling her by voice 
and signal, while in his hands he kept the ropes which led 
to the torpedo. As the boat slid forward over the boom, 
he brought the torpedo full against the somber side of the 
huge ram, and instantly exploded it, almost at the same 
time that the pivot-gun of the ram, loaded with grape, was 
fired point-blank at him, not ten yards ofiF. 

At once the ram settled, the launch sinking at the same 
moment, while Gushing and his men swam for their lives. 



178 



The Civil War 




Most of them sank or were captured ; but Gushing reached 
midstream. Hearing something splashing in the darkness, 
he swam toward it, and found that it was one of his crew. 
He went to his rescue, and they kept together for some 
time, but the sailor's strength gave out, and he finally sank. 

In the pitch darkness Gush- 
ing could form no idea 
where he was; and when, 
chilled through, and too ex- 
hausted to rise to his feet, 
he finally reached shore, 
shortly before dawn, he 
found that he had swum 
back, and landed but a few 
hundred feet below the 
sunken ram. All that day 
he remained within easy 
musket-shot of where his 
foes were swarming about 
the fort and the great drowned iron-clad. He hardly 
dared move, and until the afternoon, he lay without food 
and without protection from the heat or insects. Then 
he managed to slip unobserved into a dense swamp, and 
began to make his way toward the fleet. Toward even- 
ing he came out on a small stream, near a camp of Gon- 
federate soldiers. They had moored to the bank a small skiff, 
and with equal stealth and daring he managed to steal 
this, and began to paddle down-stream. Hour after hour 
he paddled on through the fading light, and then through 
the darkness. At last, utterly worn out, he found the squad- 
ron, and was picked up. 

At once the ships weighed their anchors, and they speedily 



Commander W. B. Cushiiig, U. S. N. 



Gushing and the Ram Ambemarle 179 

captured every coast town and fort, now that their dreaded 
enemy was no longer in the way. 

The fame of Cushing's deed went all over the land, and 
his name will stand forever among the highest on the honor- 
roll of the American Navy. 




PICKETT'S CHARGE AT GETTYSBURG 
By General Adam Badeau, U. S. A. 

Lee gave Longstreet three divisions for the charge. 
Pickett, from Longstreet's own corps, was to lead, supported 
by Wilcox and Pettigrew from Hill's. *' This will give me 
fifteen thousand men," said Longstreet, '" and there never 
was a body of fifteen thousand men who could make that at- 
tack successfully." 

But the arrangements went on. All the Southern artil- 
lery was collected on the heights; half of it extending south- 
ward opposite Meade's left, and the remainder immediately 
in front of the Union center. The troops for the charge 
were hidden behind the crest of Seminary Ridge. Long- 
street took Pickett to the front, and showed him what he had 
to do. After a heavy artillery fire, he was to march over 
the crest, and down the slope of Seminary Ridge, and then 
up the opposite hill where Meade was in force — a distance 
of fourteen hundred yards. Longstreet's heart was heavy 
when he gave this direction, for he foresaw the slaughter 
and the result. But Pickett was one of the most gallant 
of soldiers, and made no objection to the order. 

At about II o'clock the Confederate batteries opened a 

tremendous fire. One hundred and thirty-eight cannon were 

ranged in full sight along the crest of Seminary Ridge, from 

the point opposite Gettysburg down to that wrung from 

the Llnion forces on Meade's left the day before, just under 

Round Top. They poured across the valley shot and shell 

i8o 



Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg 181 

against Cemetery Hill, the center of Meade's line. Here 
Hancock was in position with the 26. Corps, and there could 
be neither general nor troops better fitted to repel assault. 
But it was not known as yet which point the Confederates 
would attack. Artillery fire, of course, preceded infantry 
assaults, and a hundred Union guns were collected, under 
Hunt, Meade's chief of artillery, to reply. From Round 
Top on Meade's left to Cemetery Hill, the northern ex- 
tremity of the ridge, there was a line "of flame nearly two 
miles long responding to the semicircle of fire that belched 
from the throats of Confederate cannon on the other side. 
Never on the American continent was seen such a storm of 
artillery. The smoke half enveloped and obscured the hills, 
while sharp tongues of flame darted out all along the ridges, 
and shells in the air formed circles of fire above the heads 
of the combatants ; then came the whiz, the explosion, the 
crash, the disaster among the cannoneers; for on both sides 
the infantry was covered as much as possible from the en- 
emy, but the gunners must remain exposed. 

The object of the Confederates was to silence the Union 
batteries, so that when their infantry advanced, they would 
find less to encounter. But this the Union general knew as 
well as his enemy; and after about an hour, orders were 
issued by Meade to cease artillery firing. The Confeder- 
ates supposed this was proof of their success, and at about 
I o'clock the command was given for Pickett to advance. 
Longstreet was still unwilling. When Pickett came up to 
ask if it was time, his commander could not speak, for emo- 
tion. Pickett repeated the inquiry, and Longstreet simply 
bowed his head. Then Pickett replied : " Sir, I shall lead 
my division forward." 

The men advanced in magnificent array. Pickett's troops 



i82 The Civil War 

were fresh; they had not been engaged the day before. 
He was supported by Pettigrew on his left and Wilcox on 
the right, and they marched down the slope and into the 
valley till they reached the Emmettsburg road, which runs 
along the foot of Cemetery Ridge. Those who saw the 
movement, — Union, Confederate, and foreign spectators, — 
all declared the sight one of the most splendid that could 
occur in war. The day was clear; it was the 3d of July; 
the sky was without a cloud. Between two long ranges of 
hills, on each of which a hostile army was extended, fifteen 
thousand soldiers advanced, slowly, so as not to break the 
line, and approached the strongest point in the position of 
the enemy, a hill one hundred feet high, where the Union 
lines projected, so that they formed what is called a sali- 
ent, — an angle from which the defenders can fire in either 
direction. When he reached the Emmettsburg road, Pick- 
ett changed the direction of his march, and moved to the 
left for a while, so as to come directly in front of the point 
he wished to attack. This movement exposed his right 
flank, and the Union artillery at once began to fire. Forty 
guns opened on the assailants, but they pressed on. 

Hancock was at the center of the position to be attacked, 
Howard was on his right, and a portion of the ist Corps 
under Doubleday was on the left. When Pickett changed 
direction, Wilcox, who was on his right, did not follow, but 
continued moving forward. This left a gap in the Con- 
federate line, and when Pickett advanced again, his right 
was still more exposed. Doubleday saw his chance, and at 
once moved forward Stanard's brigade and struck Pickett's 
right with tremendous force. But the splendid Southerner 
still advanced, and all his men were heroes. The whole line 
pressed onward up the ridge, among rocks and trees, against 



Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg 183 

Hancock's center. They seized for a moment the crest of 
Cemetery Hill, and Lee could discern from the opposite 
ridge the blue flag of Virginia waving over the Union lines. 
But Hancock came to the rescue. Webb and Gibbon, his 
two division commanders, led their men forward. The 
fighting now was terrific. Hancock, Webb, and Gibbon all 
were wounded. 

The Confederates, too, performed prodigies of valor, but 
in vain. Pickett's force had gained the ridge, but it was 
impossible to remain. The Union men rushed in on them 
from every side. Stanard on the. right, Hancock in front, 
enveloped them. Pettigrew had given way on the left, Wil- 
cox never reached the crest on the right; and here was 
Pickett thrust forward two-thirds of a mile from Lee, and 
unsuccessful. The great column was mowed down like 
grass before a scythe, and the men surrendered in masses. 
They rallied now and then, but two-thirds of Pickett's com- 
mand were killed, wounded, or captured. Every brigade 
commander and every field-officer but one in his column 
fell. The hill and the plain w^ere covered with fugitives. 
The mass did not retreat : none but disorganized stragglers 
returned. The flag that had waved in victory over the 
Union parapet was in Union hands. 

The assault was over in less than half an hour. The 
battle was lost — the Union was saved — the invasion was 
at an end. Everybody in each army knew the result. As 
the stragglers came up, disorganized, Lee endeavored to 
rally them, and nobly admitted his error. " It was all my 
fault," he cried to his men; and every one set to work to 
prepare for a counter assault. Longstreet brought up the 
troops that had not been engaged. The artillery was posted 
again, though its ammunition was nearly exhausted. 



i84 



The Civil War 



But Meade determined to make no counter attack. He 
came upon the ground after the charge, and, though Han- 
cock, wounded and in an ambulance, urged him to carry on 
the battle and reap the result of the victory, Meade was 
cautious, and believed that Lee had not exhausted himself;' 
so, nothing more was done on either side. The Army of 
the Potomac had repulsed its great antagonist in a pitched 
battle. It had saved the capital. Meade had won, and he 
was satisfied with this without risking more. Nothing had 
been arranged for the offensive. This complete success had 
not been anticipated, and on the morrow Lee remained un- 
molested, though many in both armies anticipated a renewal 
of the battle. 




A shell at headquarters. 



THE GRAND STRATEGY OF THE LAST YEAR 
By William T. Sherman, General, U. S. A. 

On the 4th day of March, 1864, General U. S. Grant was 
summoned to Washington from Nashville to receive his 
commission of lieutenant-general, the highest rank then 
known in the United States, and the same that was con- 
ferred on Washington in 1798. He reached the capital on 
the 7th, had an interview for the first time with Mr. Lincoln, 
and on the 9th received his commission at the hands of 
the President, who made a short address, to which Grant 
made a suitable reply. He was informed that it was de- 
sirable that he should come east to command all the armies 
of the L^nited States, and give his personal supervision to 
the Army of the Potomac. On the loth he visited General 
Meade at Brandy Station, and saw many of his leading of- 
ficers, but he returned to Washington the next day and went 
on to Nashville, to which place he had summoned me, then 
absent on my Meridian expedition. On the 18th of March 
he turned over to me the command of the Western armies, 
and started back for Washington, I accompanying him as 
far as Cincinnati. Amidst constant interruptions of a busi- 
ness and social nature, we reached the satisfactory conclu- 
sion that, as soon as the season would permit, all the armies 
of the Union would assume the " bold offensive " by " con- 
centric lines " on the common enemy, and would finish up 
the job in a single campaign if possible. The main " ob- 

185 



i86 The Civil War 

jectives " were Lee's army behind the Rapidan in Virginia, 
and Joseph E. Johnston's army at Dalton, Georgia. 

On reaching Washington, Grant studied with great care 
all the minutise of the organization, strength, qualities, and 
resources of each of the many armies into which the Union 
forces had resolved themselves by reason of preceding 
events, and in due time with wonderful precision laid out 
the work which each one should undertake. His written 
instructions to me at Nashville were embraced in the two 
letters of April 4th and April 19th, 1894, both in his own 
handwriting, which I still possess, and which, in my judg- 
ment, are as complete as any of those of the Duke of Well- 
ington contained in the twelve volumes of his published 
letters and correspondence. 

With the month of May came the season for action, and 
by the 4th all his armies were in motion. The army of 
Butler at Fort Monroe was his left, Meade's army the 
center, and mine at Chattanooga his right. Butler was to 
move against Richmond on the south of James River, 
Meade straight against Lee, intrenched behind the Rapidan, 
and I to attack Joe Johnston and push him to and beyond 
Atlanta. This was as far as human foresight could pene- 
trate. Though Meade commanded the Army of the Poto- 
mac, Grant virtually controlled it, and on the 4th of May, 
1864, he crossed the Rapidan, and at noon of the 5th at- 
tacked Lee. He knew that a certain amount of fighting, 
" killing," had to be done to accomplish his end, and also 
to pay the penalty of former failures. In the " wilderness " 
there was no room for grand strategy, or even minor tactics ; 
but the fighting was desperate, the losses to the Union army 
being, according to Phisterer, 18,387, to the Confederate 
loss of 11,400 — the difference due to Lee's intrenchmeflts 



Strategy of the Last Year 187 

and the blind nature of the country in which the battle was 
fought. On the night of May 7th both parties paused, ap- 
palled by the fearful slaughter; but Grant commanded, 
" Forward by the left flank." That was, in my judgment, 
the supreme moment of his life; undismayed, with a full 
comprehension of the importance of the work in which he 
was engaged, feeling as keen a sympathy for his dead and 
wounded as any one, and without stopping to count his 
numbers, he gave his orders calmly, specifically, and abso- 
lutely — " Forward to Spotsylvania." But his watchful 
and skilful antagonist detected his purpose, and, having 
the inner or shorter line, threw his army across Grant's 
path, and promptly fortified it. These field intrenchments 
are peculiar to America, though I am convinced they were 
employed by the Romans in Gaul in the days of C?esar. 
Troops, halting for the night or for battle, faced the enemy ; 
moved forward to ground with a good outlook to the front ; 
stacked arms ; gathered logs, stumps, fence-rails, anything 
which would stop a bullet ; piled these to their front, and, 
digging a ditch behind, threw the dirt forward, and made a 
parapet which covered their persons as perfectly as a granite 
wall. 

When Grant reached Spotsylvania, May Sth, he found 
his antagonist in his front thus intrenched. He was de- 
layed there till the 20th, during which time there was in- 
cessant fighting, because he was compelled to attack his 
enemy behind these improvised intrenchments. His losses, 
according to Phisterer, were 12,564, while the Confederates 
lost 9,000. Nevertheless, his renewed order, " Forward by 
the left flank," compelled Lee to retreat to the defenses of 
Richmond. 

Grant's " Memoirs " enable us to follow him day by day 



i88 



The Civil War 



across the various rivers which lay between him and Rich- 
mond, and in the bloody assaults at Cold Harbor, where 
his losses are reported 14,931 to 1,700 by his opponent. 
Yet ever onward by the left flank, he crossed James River 
and penned Lee and his army of Northern Virginia within 

the intrenchments of Richmond 
and Petersburg for ten long months 
on the pure defensive, to remain 
almost passive observers of local 
events, while Grant's other armies 
were absolutely annihilating the 
Southern Confederacy. 

\\^hile Grant was fighting des- 
perately from the Rapidan to the 
James, there were two other amiies 
w ithin the same " zone of oper- 
ations " — that "of the James" 
under General Butler, who was 
expected to march up on the south 
and invest Petersburg and even 
Richmond; and that of Sigel at 
Winchester, who was expected to 
march up the Valley of Virginia, 
pick up his detachments from the 
Kanawha (Crook and Averell), 
and threaten Lynchburg, a place of vital importance to 
Lee in Richmond. Butler failed to accomplish what was 
expected of him; and Sigel failed at the very start, and was 
replaced by Hunter, who marched up the valley, made junc- 
tion with Crook and Averell at Staunton, and pushed on 
with commendable vigor to Lynchburg, which he invested on 
the 1 6th of June. 




CciiLi'al Grant. 



Strategy of the Last Year 189 

Lee, who had by this time been driven into Richmond 
with a force large enough to hold his lines of intrenchment 
and a surplus for expeditions, detached General Jubal A. 
Early with the equivalent of a corps to drive Hunter away 
from Lynchburg. Hunter, far from his base, with inade- 
quate supplies of food and ammunition, retreated by the 
Kanawha to the Ohio River, his nearest base, thereby ex- 
posing the Valley of Virginia; whereupon Early, an edu- 
cated soldier, promptly resolved to take advantage of the 
occasion, marched rapidly down this valley northward to 
Winchester, crossed the Potomac to Hagerstown, and thence 
boldly marched on Washington, defended at that time only 
by militia and armed clerks. Grant, fully alive to the dan- 
ger, dispatched to Washington, from his army investing Pet- 
ersburg, two divisions of the 6th Corps, and also the 19th 
Corps just arriving from New Orleans. These troops ar- 
rived at the very nick of time — met Early's army in the 
suburbs of \^^ashington, and drove it back to the Valley of 
Virginia. 

This most skilful movement of Early demonstrated to 
General Grant the importance of the Valley of Virginia, 
not only as a base of supplies for Lee's army in Rich- 
mond, but as the most direct, the shortest, and the easiest 
route for a " diversion " into the Union territory north of 
the Potomac. He therefore cast around for a suitable com- 
mander for this field of operations, and settled upon Major- 
General Philip H. Sheridan, whom he had brought from 
the West to command the cavalry corps of the Army of the 
Potomac. 

Sheridan promptly went to his new sphere of operations, 
cjuickly ascertained its strength and resources, and resolved 
to attack Early in the position which he had chosen in and 



190 The Civil War 

about Winchester, Va. He delivered his attack across 
broken ground on the 19th of September, beat his antago- 
nist in fair, open battle, sending him "whirling up the val- 
ley," inflicting a loss of 5,5C)0 men to his own 4,873, and 
followed him up to Cedar Creek and Fisher's Hill. Early re- 
composed his army and fell upon the Union army on the 
19th of October, at Cedar Creek, gaining a temporary ad- 
vantage during General Sheridan's absence; but on his op- 
portune return his army resumed the offensive, defeated 
Early, captured nearly all his artillery, and drove him com- 
pletely out of his field of operations, eliminating that army 
from the subsequent problem of the war. Sheridan's losses 
were 5,995 to Early's 4,200; but these losses are no just 
measure of the results of that victory, which made it im- 
possible to use the Valley of Virginia as a Confederate base 
of supplies and as an easy route for raids within the Union 
lines. General Sheridan then committed its protection to 
detachments, and with his main force rejoined General 
Grant, who still held Lee's army inside his intrenchments at 
Richmond and Petersburg. 

I now turn with a feeling of extreme delicacy to the 

conduct of that other cam- 
paign from Chattanooga 
to Atlanta, Savannah, and 
Raleigh, which with liberal 




discretion was committed 

to me by General Grant in 

hie minute instructions of 

Sherman's soldiers tearing up rail- April 4th and April 19th, 
road tracks. jgg^^ -po ^^ military 

students these letters must be familiar, because they have 
been published again and again, and there never was 



Strategy of the Last Year 191 

and never can be raised a question of rivalry or claim be- 
tween us as to the relative merits of the manner in which 
we played our respective parts. We were as brothers — I 
the older man in years, he the higher in rank. We both 
believed in our heart of hearts that the success of the Union 
cause was not only necessary to the then generation of 
Americans, but to all future generations. We both pro- 
fessed to be gentlemen and professional soldiers, educated 
in the science of war by our generous Government for the 
very occasion which had arisen. Neither of us by nature 
was a combative man ; but with honest hearts and a clear 
purpose to do what man could w^e embarked on that cam- 
paign, which I believe, in its strategy, in its logistics, in its 
grand and minor tactics, has added new luster to the old 
science of war. Both of us had at our front generals to 
wdiom in early life w-e had been taught to look up — edu- 
cated and experienced soldiers like ourselves, not likely to 
make any mistakes, and each of whom had as strong an 
army as could be collected from the mass of the Southern 
people — of the same blood as ourselves, brave, confident, 
and well equipped ; in addition to which they had the most 
decided advantage of operating in their own difficult coun- 
try of mountain, forest, ravine, and river, affording ad- 
mirable opportunities for defense, besides, the other equally 
important advantage that we had to invade the country 
of our unqualified enemy and expose our long lines of supply 
to the guerrillas of an " exasperated people." Again, as we 
advanced we had to leave guards to bridges, stations, and 
intennediate depots, diminishing the fighting force, while 
our enemy gained strength by picking up his detachments 
as he fell back, and had railroads to bring supplies and re- 
inforcements from his rear. I instance these facts to offset 



192 The Civil War 

the common assertion that we of the North won the war 
by brute force, and not l^y courage and skill. 

[Here we omit General Sherman's description of his own 
campaign, until ready for the march to the sea.] 

Then began tlie real trouble. We were in possession of 
Atlanta, and Hood remained at Lovejoy's Station, thirty 
miles southeast, on the Savannah railroad, with an army 
of about 40,000 veterans inured to war, and with a fair 
amount of wagons to carry his supplies, independent of the 
railroads. 

Many an orator in his safe office at the North had pro- 
claimed his purpose to cleave his way to the sea. Every 
expedition which crossed the Ohio River in the early part 
of the war headed for the sea; but things were not ripe till 
the Western army had fought, and toiled, and labored down 
to Atlanta. Not till then did a " March to the Sea " be- 
come practicable and possible of grand results. Alone I 
never measured it as now my eulogists do, but coupled with 
Thomas's acts about Nashville, and those alx)ut Richmond 
directed in person by General Grant, the " March to the 
Sea," with its necessary corollary, the march northward to 
Raleigh, became vastly important, if not actually conclusive 
of the war. Mr. Lincoln was the wisest man of our day, 
and more truly and kindly gave voice to my secret thoughts 
and feeling when he wrote me at Savannah from Washing- 
ton under date of December 26th, 1864: 

When you were about leaving- Atlanta for the Atlantic coast I 
was anxious, if not fearful ; but feeling that you were the better 
judge, and remembering " nothing risked, nothing gained," I did not 
interfere. Now the undertaking being a success, the honor is all 
yours; for I believe none of us went further than to acquiesce; and 



Strategy of the Last Year 193 

taking the work of General Thomas into account, as it should be 
taken, it is indeed a great success. Not only does it afford the ob- 
vious and immediate military advantages, but in showing to the 
world that your army could be divided, putting the stronger part to 
an important new service, and yet leaving enough to vanquish the 
old opposing force of the whole. Hood's army, it brings those who 
sat in darkness to see a great light. But what next? I suppose it 
will be safer if I leave General Grant and yourself to decide. 

So highly do I prize this testimonial that I preserve Mr. 
Lincoln's letter, every word in his own handwriting, unto 
this day; and if I know myself, I believe on receiving it I 
experienced more satisfaction in giving to his over-burdened 
and weary soul one gleam of satisfaction and happiness, than 
of selfish pride in an achievement which has given me 
among men a larger measure of fame than any single act of 
my life. 

Meantime Hood, whom I had left at and near Florence, 
317 miles to my rear, having completely reorganized and 
resupplied his army, advanced against Thomas at Nashville, 
who had also made every preparation. Hood first encoun- 
tered Schofield at Franklin, November 30th, 1864, attacked 
him boldly behind his intrenchments, and sustained a posi- 
tive check, losing 6,252 of his best men, including Generals 
Cleburne and Adams, wdio w^re killed on the very parapets, 
to Schofield's loss of 2,326. Nevertheless he pushed on to 
Nashville, which he invested. Thomas, one of the grand 
characters of our Civil War, nothing dismayed by danger 
in front or rear, made all his preparations with cool and 
calm deliberation; and on the 15th of December sallied from 
his intrenchments, attacked Hood in his chosen and in- 
trenched position, and on the next day, December i6th, 



194 ^^^ Civil War 

actually annihilated his army, eliminating it thenceforward 
from the problem of the war. Hood's losses were 15,000 
men to Thomas's 3,057. 

Therefore at the end of the year 1864 the conflict at 
the West was concluded, leaving nothing to be considered in 
the grand game of war but Lee's army, held by Grant in 
Richmond, and the Confederate detachments at Mobile .and 
along the seaboard north of Savannah. In January Fort 
Fisher was captured by a detachment from the Army of 
the Potomac, aided by Admiral Porter's fleet, and Wil- 
mington was occupied by Schofield, who had been brought 
by Grant from Nashville to Washington and sent down 
the Atlantic coast to prepare for Sherman's coming to 
Goldsboro', North Carolina — all " converging " on Rich- 
mond. 

Preparatory to the next move. General Howard was sent 
from Savannah to secure Pocotaligo, in South Carolina, as 
a point of departure for the north, and General Slocum to 
Sister's Ferry, on the Savannah River, to secure a safe 
lodgment on the north bank for the same purpose. In due 
time — in February, 1865 — these detachments, operating 
by concentric lines, met on the South Carolina road at Mid- 
way and Blackville, swept northward through Orangeburg 
and Columbia to Winnsboro', where the direction was 
changed to Fayetteville and Goldsboro', a distance of 420 
miles through a difficult and hostile country, making junc- 
tion with Schofield at a safe base with two good railroads 
back to the sea-coast, of which we held absolute dominion. 
The resistance of Hampton, Butler, Beauregard, and even 
Joe Johnston was regarded as trivial. Our " objective " 
was Lee's army at Richmond. When I reached Goldsboro', 
made junction with Schofield, and moved forward to Ra- 



Strategy of the Last Year 195 

leigh, I was willing to encounter the entire Confederate 
army ; but the Confederate armies — Lee's in Richmond and 
Johnston's in my front — held interior lines, and could 
choose the initiative. Few military critics who have treated 
of the Civil War in America have ever comprehended the 
importance of the movement of my army northward from 
Savannah to Goldsboro', or of the transfer of Schofield from 
Nashville to cooperate With me in North Carolina. This 
march was like the thrust of a sword toward the heart of 
the human body; each mile of advance swept aside all op- 
position, consumed the very food on which Lee's army de- 
pended for life. 

Therefore, in March, 1865, but one more move was left 
to Lee on the chess-board of war : to abandon Richmond ; 
make junction with Johnston in North Carolina; fall on 
me and destroy m.e if possible — a fate I did not apprehend ; 
then turn on Grant, sure to be in close pursuit, and defeat 
him. But no ! Lee clung to his intrenchments for political 
reasons, and waited for the inevitable. At last, on the ist 
day of April, General Sheridan, by his vehement and most 
successful attack on the Confederate lines at the " Five 
Forks " near Dinwiddle Court House, compelled Lee to 
begin his last race for life. He then attempted to reach 
Danville, to make junction with Johnston, but Grant in his 
rapid pursuit constantly interposed,. and finally headed him 
off at Appomattox, and compelled the surrender of the 
Army of Northern Virginia, which for four years had baf- 
fled the skill and courage of the Army of the Potomac and 
the power of our National Government. This substantially 
ended the war, leaving only the formal proceedings of ac- 
cepting the surrender of Johnston in North Carolina and 
of the subordinate armies at the Southwest. 



THE SURRENDER AT APPOMATTOX COURT 

HOUSE 

By Horace Porter, Brevet Brigadier-General, U. S. A. 

The house had a comfortable wooden porch with seven 
steps leading up to it. A hall ran through the middle from 
front to back, and on each side was a room having tw^o 
windows, one in front and one in rear. Each room had 
two doors opening into the hall. The building stood a little 
distance back from the street, with a yard in front, and to 
the left was a gate for carriages and a roadway running 
to a stable in rear. We entered the grounds by this gate 
and dismounted. In the yard were seen a fine large gray 
horse, which proved to be General Lee's, and a good-looking 
mare belonging to Colonel Marshall. An orderly in gray 
was in charge of them, and had taken ofif their bridles to let 
them nibble the grass. 

General Grant mounted the steps and entered the house. 
As he stepped into the hall Colonel Babcock, who had seen 
his approach from the window, opened the door of the 
room on the left, in which he had been sitting with General 
Lee and Colonel Marshall awaiting General Grant's arrival. 
The General passed in, wdiile the members of the staff, 
Generals Sheridan and Ord, and some general officers who 
had gathered in the front yard, remained outside, feeling 
that he would probably want his first interview with General 
Lee to be, in a measure, private. In a few minutes Col- 
onel Babcock came to the front door and, making a motion 

196 



The Surrender 197 

with his hat toward the sitting-room, said : " The General 
says, come in." It was then about half-past i Sunday, the 




Surrender of Lee to Grant. 

gth of April, 1865. We entered, and found General Grant 
sitting at a marble-topped table in the center of the room, 
and Lee sittinsr beside a small oval table near the front 



198 The Civil War 

window, in the corner opposite to the door by which we 
entered, and facing General Grant. Colonel Marshall, his 
military secretary, was standing at his left. We walked in 
softly and ranged ourselves quietly about the sides of the 
room, very much as people enter a sick-chamber when they 
expect to find the patient dangerously ill. Some found 
seats on the sofa and the few chairs which constituted the 
furniture, but most of the party stood. 

The contrast between the two commanders was striking, 
and could not fail to attract marked attention as they sat 
ten feet apart facing each other. General Grant, then 
nearly forty-three years of age, was five feet eight inches 
in height, with shoulders slightly stooped. His hair and 
full beard were a nut-brown, without a trace of gray in 
them. He had on a single-breasted blouse, made of dark- 
blue flannel, unbuttoned in front, and showing a waistcoat 
underneath. He wore an ordinary pair of top-boots, with 
his trousers inside, and was without spurs. The boots and 
portions of his clothes were spattered with mud. He had 
had on a pair of thread gloves, of a dark-yellow color, 
which he had taken off on entering the room. His felt 
" sugar-loaf " stiff-brimmed hat was thrown on the table 
beside him. He had no sword, and a pair of shoulder- 
straps was all there was about him to designate his rank. 
In fact, aside from these, his uniform was that of a private 
soldier. 

Lee, on the other hand, was fully six feet in height, and 
quite erect for one of his age, for he was Grant's senior by 
sixteen years. His hair and full beard were a silver-gray, 
and quite thick, except that the hair had become a little 
thin in front. He wore a new uniform of Confederate 
gray, buttoned up to the throat, and at his side he carried 



The Surrender 



199 



a long sword of exceedingly fine workmanship, the hilt 
studded with jewels. It was said to be the sword that had 
been presented to him by the State of Virginia. His top- 
boots were comparatively new, and seemed to have on them 
some ornamental stitching of red silk. Like his uniform, 
they were singularly clean, and but little travel-stained. 
On the boots were handsome spurs, with large rowels. A 
felt hat, which in color matched pretty closely that of his 




<1 -^^^ii*;; «;.'r'V''fii£:,'ii2^g^y 



Appomattox Courthouse. 

uniform, and a pair of long buckskin gauntlets lay beside 
him on the table. We asked Colonel Marshall afterward 
how it was that both he and his chief wore such fine tog- 
gery, and looked so much as if they had turned out to go 
to church, while with us our outward garb scarcely rose to 
the dignity even of the " shabby-genteel." He enlightened 
us regarding the contrast, by explaining that when their 
headquarters wagons had been pressed so closely by our 
cavalry a few days before, and it was found they would 



200 The Civil War 

have to destroy all their baggage, except the clothes they 
carried on their backs, each one, naturally, selected the 
newest suit he had, and sought to propitiate the god of 
destruction by a sacrifice of his second-best. 

General Grant began the conversation by saying: "I 
met you once before. General Lee, while we w^ere serving 
in Mexico, when you came over from General Scott's head- 
cjuarters to visit Garland's brigade, to which I then 
belonged. I have always remembered your appearance, 
and I think I should have recognized you anywhere." 
" Yes," replied General Lee, " I know I met you on that 
occasion, and I ha\'e often thought of it and tried to recol- 
lect how you looked, but I have never been able to recall a 
single feature." After some further mention of Mexico, 
General Lee said : " I suppose. General Grant, that the 
object of our present meeting is fully understood. I asked 
to see you to ascertain upon what terms you would receive 
the surrender of my army." General Grant replied : 
" The terms I propose are those stated substantially in my 
letter of yesterday, — that is, the officers and men surren- 
dered to be paroled and disqualified from taking up arms 
again until properly exchanged, and all arms, ammunition, 
and supplies to be delivered up as captured property." 
Lee nodded an assent, and said : " Those are about the 
conditions which I expected would be proposed." General 
Grant then continued : " Yes, I think our correspondence 
indicated pretty clearly the action that would be taken at 
our meeting; and I hope it may lead to a general suspen- 
sion of hostilities and be the means of preventing any 
further loss of life." 

Lee inclined his head as indicating his accord with this 
wish, and General Grant then went on to talk at some 



The Surrender 



201 



length in a very pleasant vein about the prospects of peace. 
Lee was evidently anxious to proceed to the formal work 
of the surrender, and he brought the subject up again by 
saying : 

" I presume, General Grant, we have both carefully con- 
sidered the proper steps to be taken, and I would suggest 
that you commit to writing the terms you have proposed, 
so that they may he formally acted upon." 

" Very well," replied General Grant, " I will write them 




The village of Appomattox Courthouse. The McLean house on the 

right. 

out." And calling for his manifold order-book, he opened 
it on the table before him and proceeded to write the terms. 
The leaves had been so prepared that three impressions of 
the writing w^re made. He wrote very rapidly, and did 
not pause until he had finished the sentence ending with 
" officers appointed by me to receive them." Then he 
looked toward Lee, and his eyes seemed to be resting on 
the handsome sword that hung at that officer's side. He 
said afterward that this set him to thinking that it would 
be an unnecessary humiliation to require the officers to sur- 



202 



The Civil War 




The McLean house at Appomattox, 
where Lee surrendered. 



render their swords, and a great hardship to deprive them 
of their personal baggage and horses, and after a short 

pause he wrote the sen- 
tence : " This will not 
embrace the side-arms of 
the officers, nor their pri- 
vate horses or baggage." 
When he had finished the 
letter he called Colonel 
(afterward General) Ely 
S. Parker, one of the 
military secretaries on 
the staff, to his side 
and looked it over with 
him and directed him as they went along to interline six 
or seven words and to strike out the word " their," which 
had been repeated. When this had been done, he handed 
the book to General Lee and asked him to read over the 
letter. It was as follows : 

Appomattox Ct. H., Va., April 9, 1865. 
General R. E. Lee, Commanding C. S. A. 

General : In accordance with the substance of my letter to you 
of the 8th inst., I propose to receive the surrender of the Army of 
Northern Virginia on the following terms, to-wit: Rolls of all the 
officers and men to be made in duplicate, one copy to be given to 
an officer to be designated by me, the other to be retained by such 
officer or officers as you may designate. The officers to give their 
individual paroles not to take up arms against the Government of 
the United States until properly [exchanged], and each company or 
regimental commander to sign a like parole for the men of their 
commands. The arms, artillery, and public property to be parked, 
and stacked, and turned over to the officers appointed by me to re- 
ceive them. This will not embrace the side-arms of the officers, nor 



The Surrender 203 

their private horses or baggage. This done, each officer and man 
will be allowed to return to his home, not to be disturbed by the 
United States authorities so long as they observe their paroles, and 
the laws in force where they may reside. 
Very respectfully, 

U. S. Grant, Lieutenant-General. 

Lee took it and laid it on the table beside him, while he 
drew from his pocket a pair of steel-rimmed spectacles and 
wiped the glasses carefully with his handkerchief. Then 
he crossed his legs, adjusted the spectacles very slowly and 
deliberately, took up the draft of the letter, and proceeded 
to read it attentively. It consisted of two pages. When 
he reached the top line of the second page, he looked up, 
and said to General Grant: "After the words 'until 
properly,' the word ' exchanged ' seems to be omitted. 
You doubtless intended to use that word." 

"Why, yes," said Grant; "I thought I had put in the 
word ' exchanged.' " 

" I presumed it had been omitted inadvertently," con- 
tinued Lee, " and with your permission I will mark where 
it should be inserted." 

" Certainly," Grant replied. 

Lee felt in his pocket as if searching for a pencil, but did 
not seem to be able to find one. Seeing this and happening 
to be standing close to him, I handed him my pencil. He 
took it, and laying the paper on the table noted the inter- 
lineation. During the rest of the interview he kept twirl- 
ing this pencil in his fingers and occasionally tapping the 
top of the table with it. When he handed it back it was 
carefully- treasured by me as a memento of the occasion. 
When Lee came to the sentence about the officer's side- 
arms, private horses, and baggage, he showed for the first 



204 ^^^ Civil War 

time during the reading of the letter a slight change of 
countenance, and was evidently touched by this act of 
generosity. It was doubtless the condition mentioned to 
which he particularly alluded when he looked toward Gen- 
eral Grant as he finished reading and said with some degree 
of warmth in his manner: " This will have a very happy 
effect upon my army." 

General Grant then said : " Unless you have some sug- 
gestions to make in regard to the form in which I have 
stated the terms, I will have a copy of the letter made in 
ink and sign it." 

" There is one thing I would like to mention," Lee 
replied after a short pause. "' The cavalrymen and 
artillerists own their own horses in our army. Its organ- 
ization in this respect differs from that of the United 
States." This expression attracted the notice of our officers 
present, as showing how firmly the conviction was grounded 
in his mind that we were two distinct countries. He con- 
tinued : " I would like to understand whether these men 
will be permitted to retain their horses? " 

" You will find that the terms as written do not allow 
this," General Grant replied ; " only the officers are per- 
mitted to take their private property." 

Lee read over the second page of the letter again, and 
then said : 

"No, I see the terms do not allow it; that is clear." 
His face showed plainly that he was quite anxious to have 
this concession made, and Grant said very promptly and 
without giving Lee time to make a direct request : 

" Well, the subject is quite new to me. Of course I did 
not know that any private soldiers owned their animals, 
but I think this will be the last battle of the war — I sin- 



The Surrender 205 

cerely hope so — and that the surrender of this army will 
be followed soon by that of all the others, and I take it that 
most of the men in the ranks are small farmers, and as the 
country has been so raided by the two armies, it is doubtful 
whether they will be able to put in a crop to carry them- 
selves and their families through the next winter without 
the aid of the horses they are now riding, and I will 
arrange it in this way : I will not change the terms as now 
written, but I will instruct the officers I shall appoint to 
receive the paroles to let all the men who claim to own a 
horse or mule take the animals home with them to work 
their little farms." (This expression has been quoted in 
various forms and has been the subject of some dispute. 
I give the exact words used.) 

Lee now looked greatly relieved, and though anything 
but a demonstrative man, he gave every evidence of his 
appreciation of this concession, and said, " This will have 
the best possible effect upon the men.^ It will be very 
gratifying and will do much toward conciliating our 
people." He handed the draft of the terms back to Gen- 
eral Grant, who called Colonel T. S. Bowers of the staff 
to him and directed him to make a copy in ink. The letter 
when completed read as follows : 

Headquarters, Army of Northern Virginia, April 9th, 1865. 

General: I received your letter of this date containing the 
terms of the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia as pro- 
posed by you. As they are substantially the same as those ex- 
pressed in your letter of the 8th inst., they are accepted. I will 
proceed to designate the proper officers to carry the stipulations 
into effect. 

R. E. Lee, General. 

Lieutenant-General U. S. Grant. 



206 The Civil War 

General Lee now took the initiative again in leading the 
conversation back into business channels. He said : 

" I have a thousand or more of your men as prisoners, 
General Grant, a number of them officers v^diom we have 
required to march along with us for several days. I shall 
be glad to send them into your lines as soon as it can be 
arranged, for I have no provisions for them. I have, 
indeed, nothing for my own men. They have been living 
for the last few days principally upon parched corn, and we 
are badly in need of both rations and forage. I telegraphed 
to Lynchburg, directing several train-loads of rations to be 
sent on by rail from there, and when they arrive I should 
be glad to have the present wants of my men supplied 
from them." 

At this remark all eyes turned toward Sheridan, for he 
had captured these trains with his cavalry the night before, 
near Appomattox Station. General Grant replied : " I 
should like to have our men sent within our lines as soon 
as possible. I will take steps at once to have your army 
supplied with rations, but I am sorry we have no forage 
for the animals. We have had to depend upon the country 
for our supply of forage. Of about how many men does 
your present force consist ? " 

" Indeed, I am not able to say," Lee answered after a 
slight pause. " My losses in killed and wounded have been 
exceedingly heavy, and, besides, there have been many 
stragglers and some deserters. All my reports and public 
papers, and, indeed, my own private letters, had to be 
destroyed on the march, to prevent them from falling into 
the hands of your people. Many companies are entirely 
without officers, and I have not seen any returns for several 



The Surrender 



207 



days; so that I have no means of ascertaining our present 
strength." 

General Grant had taken great pains to have a daily- 
estimate made of the enemy's forces from all the data that 
could be obtained, and, judging it to be about 25,000 at 
this time, he said: "Suppose I send over 25,000 rations, 
do you think that will be a sufficient supply? " " I think 
it v^ill be ample," remarked Lee, and added with consider- 
able earnestness of manner, " and it will be a great relief, 
I assure you." 

General Grant now turned to his chief commissary. 
Colonel M. R. Morgan, who was present, and directed him 
to arrange for issuing the rations. The number of officers 
and men surrendered was over 28,000. As to General 
Grant's supplies, he had ordered the army on starting out 
to carry twelve days' rations. 
This was the twelfth and last \^ 
day of the campaign. 

Grant's eye now fell 
upon Lee's sword again, 
and it seemed to remind 
him of the absence of his 
own, and by way of ex- 
planation he said to Lee : 

" I started out from my 
camp several days ago 
without my sword, and as 

I have not seen my head- General Lee and Colonel Marshall 
■^ ^ leaving McLean s house after the 

quarters baggage since, I surrender. 

1, „„ U„„ -"J"™ -L i. From a sketch made at the time. 

have been ridnig about 

without any side-arms. I have generally worn a sword, 

however, as little as possible, only during the actual opera- 




208 The Civil War 

tions of a campaign." " I am in the habit of wearing 
mine most of the time," remarked Lee; "I wear it in- 
variably when I am among my troops, moving about 
through the army." 

General Sheridan now stepped up to General Lee and said 
that when he discovered some of the Confederate troops 
in motion during the morning, which seemed to be a viola- 
tion of the truce, he had sent him (Lee) a couple of notes 
protesting against this act, and as he had not had time to 
copy them he would like to have them long enough to make 
copies. Lee took the notes out of the breast-pocket of his 
coat and handed them to Sheridan with a few words 
expressive of regret that the circumstances had occurred, 
and intimating that it must have been the result of some 
misunderstanding. 

After a little general conversation had been indulged in 
by those present, the two letters were signed and delivered, 
and the parties prepared to separate. Lee before parting 
asked Grant to notify Meade of the surrender, fearing that 
fighting might break out on that front and lives be use- 
lessly lost. This request was complied with, and two 
Union officers were sent through the enemy's lines as the 
shortest route to Meade, — some of Lee's officers accom- 
panying them to prevent their being interfered with. At a 
little before 4 o'clock General Lee shook hands with Gen- 
eral Grant, bowed to the other officers, and with Colonel 
Marshall left the room. One after another we followed, 
and passed out to the porch. Lee signaled to his orderly 
to bring up his horse, and while the animal was being 
bridled the General stood on the lowest step and gazed 
sadly in the direction of the valley beyond where his army 
lay — now an army of prisoners. He smote his hands 



The Surrender 



209 



together a number of times in an absent sort of a way; 
seemed not to see the group of Union officers in the yard 
who rose respectfully at his approach, and appeared uncon- 
scious of everything about him. All appreciated the sad- 
ness that overwhelmed him, and he had the personal 
sympathy of every one who beheld him at this supreme 




Union soldiers sharing their rations with the Confederates. 



moment of trial. The approach of his horse seemed to 
recall him from his reverie, and he at once mounted. Gen- 
eral Grant now stepped down from the porch, and, moving 
toward him, saluted him by raising his hat. He was 
followed in this act of courtesy by all our officers present ; 
Lee raised his hat respectfully, and rode off to break the sad 
news to the brave fellows whom he had so lone- commanded. 



THE FOURTEENTH OF APRIL 
By Helen Nicolay 

Refreshed in body by his visit to City Point, and greatly 
cheered by the fall of Richmond, and unmistakable signs 
that the war was over, Mr. Lincoln went back to Wash- 
ington intent on the new task opening before him — that 
of restoring the Union, and of bringing about peace and 
good will again between the North and the South. His 
whole heart was bent on the work of " binding up the 
nation's wounds " and doing all which lay in his power to 
" achieve a just and lasting peace." Especially did he 
desire to avoid the shedding of blood, or anything like acts 
of deliberate punishment. He talked to his cabinet in this 
strain on the morning of April 14, the last day of his life. 

A little band of desperate secessionists, of which John 
Wilkes Booth, an actor of a family of famous players, was 
the head, had their usual meeting-place at the house of Mrs. 
Mary E. Surratt, the mother of one of the number. Booth 
was a young man of twenty-six, strikingly handsome, with 
an ease and grace of manner which came to him of right 
from his theatrical ancestors. He was a fanatical South- 
erner, with a furious hatred against Lincoln and the Union. 
After Lincoln's reelection he went to Canada, and associ- 
ated with the Confederate agents there; and whether or not 
wath their advice, made a plan to capture the President and 
take him to Richmond. He passed a greater part of the 
autumn and winter pursuing this fantastic scheme, but the 



The Fourteenth of April 211 

winter wore away, and nothing was done. On March 4 
he was at the Capitol, and created a disturbance by trying 
to force his way through the Hne of poHcemen who guarded 
the passage through which the President walked to the 
east front of the building to read his Second Inaugural. 
His intentions at this time are not known. He afterward 
said he lost an excellent chance of killing the President 
that day. 

After the surrender of Lee, in a rage akin to madness, 
he called his fellow-conspirators together and allotted to 
each his part in the new crime which had risen in his mind. 
It was as simple as it was horrible. One man was to kill 
Secretary Seward, another to make way with Andrew 
Johnson, at the same time that he murdered the President. 
The final preparations were made with feverish haste. It 
was only about noon of the fourteenth that Booth learned 
that Mr. Lincoln meant to go to Ford's Theater that night 
to see the play, " Our American Cousin." The President 
enjoyed the theater. It was one of his few means of 
recreation. 

Mrs. Lincoln asked General and Mrs. Grant to accom- 
pany her. They accepted, and the announcement that they 
would be present was made in the evening papers, but they 
changed their plans and went north by an afternoon train. 
Mrs. Lincoln then invited in their stead Miss Harris and 
Major Rathbone, daughter and stepson of Senator Ira 
Harris. Being detained by visitors, the play had made 
some progress when the President appeared. The band 
struck up, " Hail to the Chief," the actors ceased playing, 
the audience rose and cheered, the President bowed in 
acknowledgment, and the play went on again. 

From the moment he learned of the President's intention 



212 The Civil War 

Booth's actions were alert and energetic. He and his con- 
federates were seen in every part of the city. Booth was 
perfectly at home in Ford's Theater. He counted upon 
audacity to reach the small passage behind the President's 
box. Once there, he guarded against interference by 
arranging a wooden bar, to be fastened by a simple mortice 
in the angle of the wall and the door by which he entered, 
so that once shut, the door could not be opened from the 
outside. He even provided for the chance of not gaining 
entrance to the box by boring a hole in the door, through 
which he might either observe the occupants, or take aim 
and shoot. He hired at a livery stable a small, fleet horse. 

A few moments before ten o'clock, leaving his horse at 
the rear of the theater, in charge of a call-boy, he entered 
the building, passing rapidly to the little hallway leading to 
the President's box. Showing a card to the servant in 
attendance, he was allowed to enter, closed the door noise- 
lessly, and secured it with the wooden bar he had made 
ready, without disturbing any of the occupants of the box, 
between whom and himself yet remained the partition and 
the door through which he had bored the hole. 

No one, not even the actor who uttered them, could ever 
remember the last words of the piece that were spoken that 
night — the last that Abraham Lincoln heard upon earth ; 
for the tragedy in the box turned play and players alike to 
the most unsubstantial of phantoms. For weeks hate and 
brandy had kept Booth's brain in a morbid state. He 
seemed to himself to be taking part in a great play. Hold- 
ing a pistol in one hand and a knife in the other, he opened 
the box door, put the pistol to the President's head, and 
fired. Major Rathbone sprang to grapple with him, and 
received a savage knife wound in the arm. Then, rush- 



The Fourteenth of April 213 

ing forward, Booth placed his hand on the raihng of the 
box and vaulted to the stage. It was a high leap, but 
nothing to such a trained athlete. He .might have got 
safely away, had not his spur caught in the flag that draped 
the front of the box. He fell, the torn flag trailing on his 
spur; but though the fall had broken his leg, he rose 
instantly, brandishing his knife and shouting, " Sic Semper 
Tyrannis ! " fled rapidly across the stage and out of sight. 
Major Rathbone shouted, "Stop him!" The cry, "He 
has shot the President ! " rang through the theater, and 
from the audience, stupid at first with surprise, and wild 
afterward with excitement and horror, men jumped upon 
the stage in pursuit of the assassin. But he ran through 
the familiar passages, leaped upon his horse, and escaped 
into the night. 

The President scarcely moved. His head drooped for- 
ward slightly, his eyes closed. Major Rathbone, not 
regarding his own grievous hurt, rushed to the door to 
summon aid. He found it barred, and some one on the 
outside beating and clamoring to get in. It was at once 
seen that the President's" wound was mortal. He was 
carried across the street to a house opposite, and laid upon 
a bed. Mrs. Lincoln followed, tenderly cared for by Miss 
Harris. Rathbone, exhausted by loss of blood, fainted, 
and was taken home. Messengers were sent for the Cabi- 
net, for the Surgeon-General, for Dr. Stone, the Presi- 
dent's family physician, and for others whose official or 
private relations with Mr. Lincoln gave them the right to 
be there. A crowd of people rushed instinctively to the 
White House, and bursting through the doors, shouted 
the dreadful news to Robert Lincoln and Major Hay, who 
sat together in an upper room. 



214 The Civil War 

The President had been shot a few minutes after ten 
o'clock. The wound would have brought instant death 
to most men. He was unconscious from the first moment, 
but he breathed throughout the night, his gaunt face 
scarcely paler than those of the sorrowing men around him. 
At twenty-two minutes past seven in the morning he died. 
Secretary Stanton broke the silence by saying, " Now he 
belongs to the ages." 

It was determined that the funeral ceremonies in Wash- 
ington should be held on Wednesday, April 19, and all the 
churches throughout the country were invited to join at 
the same time in appropriate observances. The ceremo- 
nies in the East Room were simple and brief, while all the 
pomp and circumstance that the Government could com- 
mand were employed to give a fitting escort from the 
Executive Mansion to the Capitol, where the body of the 
President lay in state. 

When it was announced that he was to be buried at 
Springfield, Illinois, every city on the way begged that the 
train might halt within its limits, to give its people oppor- 
tunity of showing their grief and reverence. It was finally 
arranged that the funeral cortege should follow substan- 
tially the same route over which Lincoln had come in 1861 
to take possession of the office to which he added a new 
dignity and value for all time. On April 21, accompanied 
by a guard of honor, and in a train decked with somber 
trappings, the journey was begun. At Baltimore, through 
which, four years before, it was a question whether the 
President-elect could pass with safety to his life, the coffin 
was taken with reverent care to the great dome of the 
Exchange, where, surrounded with evergreens and lilies, 
it lay for several hours, the people passing^ by in mournful 



The Fourteenth of April 215 

throngs. The same demonstration was repeated, gaining 
constantly in depth of feehng and solemn splendor of dis- 
play in every city through which the procession passed. 

Springfield was reached on the morning of May 3. The 
body lay^ in state in the Capitol, which was richly draped 
from roof to basement in black velvet and silver fringe, 
while within it was a bower of bloom and fragrance. For 
twenty-four hours an unbroken stream of people passed 
through, bidding their friend and neighbor welcome home 
and farewell. At ten o'clock on the morning of May 4 
the coffin lid was closed, and a vast procession moved out 
to Oak Ridge, where the town had set apart a lovely spot 
for his grave. Here the dead President was committed to 
the soil of the State which had so loved and honored him. 
The ceremonies at the grave were simple and touching. 
Bishop Simpson delivered a pathetic oration, prayers were 
offered, and hymns were sung, but the weightiest and most 
eloquent words uttered anywhere that day were those of 
the Second Inaugural, which the committee had wisely 
ordained to be read over his grave, as centuries before, the 
friends of the painter Raphael chose the incomparable 
canvas of " The Transfiguration " to be the chief ornament 
of his funeral. 

Though President Lincoln lived to see the real end of the 
war, various bodies of "Confederate troops continued to 
hold out for some time longer. General Johnston faced 
Sherrrian's army in the Carolinas until April 26, while 
General E. Kirby Smith, west of the Mississippi River, did 
not surrender until May 26. 

Why was this man so loved that his death caused a whole 
nation to forget its triumph, and turned its gladness into 
mourning? Why has his fame grown with the passing 



2i6 The Civil War 

years until now scarcely a speech is made or a newspaper 
printed that does not have within it somewhere a mention 
of his name or some phrase or sentence that fell from his 
lips? Let us see if we can, what it was that made Abraham 
Lincoln the man that he became. 

A child born to an inheritance of want ; a boy growing 
into a narrow world of ignorance ; a youth taking up the 
burden of coarse and heavy labor; a man entering on the 
doubtful struggle of a local backwoods career — these were 
the beginnings of Abraham Lincoln if we look at them only 
in the hard, practical spirit which takes for its motto that 
" Nothing succeeds but success." If we adopt a more 
generous as well as a truer view, then we see that it was 
the brave, hopeful spirit, the strong, active mind, and the 
grave law of moral growth that accepts the good and 
rejects the bad, which Nature gave this obscure child, that 
carried him to the service of mankind and the admiration 
of the centuries as certainly as the acorn grows to be 
the oak. 

Even his privations helped the end. Self-reliance, the 
strongest trait of the pioneer, was his by blood and birth 
and training, and was developed by the hardships of his lot 
to the mighty power and firmness needed to guide our 
country through the bitter four years' struggle of the 
Civil War. 

In such settlements, far removed from courts and jails, 
men were brought face to face with questions of natural 
right. The pioneers not only understood the American 
doctrine of self-government — they lived it. It was this 
understanding, this feeling, whicli taught Lincoln to write : 
*' When the white man governs himself that is self-govern- 
ment; but when he governs himself and also governs 



The Fourteenth of April 217 

another man, that is more than self-government — that is 
despotism ' ; and also to give utterance to its twin truth: 
" He who would be no slave must consent to have no 
slave." 

Lincoln was born in the slave state of Kentucky. He 
lived there only a short time, and we have reason to 
believe that wherever he might have grown up, his very 
nature would have spurned the doctrine and practice of 
human slavery. Yet, though he hated slavery, he never 
hated the slave-holder. His feeling of pardon and sym- 
pathy for Kentucky and the South played no unimportant 
part in his dealings with grave problems of statesmanship. 
It is true that he struck slavery its death blow with the 
hand of war, but at the same time he offered the slave- 
owners golden payment with the hand of peace. 

Abraham Lincoln was not an ordinary man. He was, 
in truth, in the language of the poet Lowell, a " new birth 
of our new soil." His greatness did not consist in grow- 
ing up on the frontier. An ordinary man would have found 
on the frontier exactly what he would have found else- 
where — a commonplace life, varying only with the chang- 
ing ideas and customs of time and place. But for the man 
with extraordinary powers of mind and body — for one 
gifted by Nature as Abraham Lincoln was gifted, the 
pioneer life with its severe training in self-denial, patience 
and industry, developed his character, and fitted him for 
the great duties of his after life as no other training could 
have done. 

His advancement in the astonishing career that carried 
him from obscurity to world-wide fame — from postmaster 
of New Salem village to President of the United States. 
from captain of a backwoods volunteer company to Com- 



2i8 The Civil War 

mander-in-chief of the Army and Navy, was neither sud- 
den nor accidental, nor easy. He was both ambitious and 
successful, but his ambition was moderate, and his success 
was slow. And, because his success was slow, it never out- 
grew either his judgment or his power. Between the day 
when he left his father's cabin and launched his canoe on 
the headwaters of the Sangamon River to begin life on his 
own account, and the day of his first inauguration, lay full 
thirty years of toil, self-denial, patience; often of effort 
baffled, of hope deferred; sometimes of bitter disappoint- 
ment. 

Almost every success was balanced — sometimes over- 
balanced, by a seeming failure. He went into the Black 
Hawk war a captain, and through no fault of his own, 
came out a private. He rode to the hostile frontier on 
horseback, and trudged home on foot. His store " winked 
out." His surveyor's compass and chain, with which he 
was earning a scanty living, Avere sold for debt. He was 
defeated in his first attempts to be nominated for the legis- 
lature and for Congress ; defeated in his application to be 
appointed Commissioner of the General Land Office; de- 
feated for the Senate when he had forty-five votes to begin 
with, by a man who had only five votes to begin with; 
defeated again after his joint debates with Douglas ; de- 
feated in the nomination for Vice-President, when a favor- 
able nod from half a dozen politicians would have brought 
him success. 

Failures? Not so. Every seeming defeat was a slow 
success. His was the growth of the oak, and not of 
Jonah's gourd. He could not become a master workman 
until he had served a tedious apprenticeship. It was a 
quarter of a century of reading, thinking, speech-making and 



The Fourteenth of April 219 

lawmaking which fitted him to be the chosen champion of 
freedom in the great Lincohi-Douglas debates of 1858. 
It was the great moral victory won in those debates 
(although the senatorship went to Douglas) added to the 
title " Honest Old Abe," won by truth and manhood among 
his neighbors during a whole lifetime, that led the people 
of the United States to trust him with the Presidency. 

And when, at last, after thirty years of endeavor, success 
had beaten down defeat, when Lincoln had been nominated, 
elected and inaugurated, came the crowning trial of his faith 
and constancy. 

The outlook was indeed grave. There was treason in 
Congress, treason in the Supreme Court, treason in the 
army and navy. Confusion and discord were everywhere. 
To use Mr. Lincoln's forcible figure of speech, sinners were 
calling the righteous to repentance. Finally the flag was 
fired upon, at Sumter; and then came the humiliation of 
the riot at Baltimore, and the President for a few days 
practically a prisoner in the capital of the nation. 

But his apprenticeship had been served, and there was 
to be no more failure. With faith and justice and gener- 
osity he conducted for four long years a war whose fron- 
tiers stretched from the Potomac to the Rio Grande ; whose 
soldiers numbered a million men on each side. The labor, 
the thought, the responsibility, the strain of mind and 
anguish of soul that he gave to this great task, who can 
measure ? " Here was place for no holiday magistrate, no 
fair weather sailor," as Emerson justly said of him. " The 
new pilot was hurried to the helm in a tornado. In four 
years — four years of battle days — his endurance, his fer- 
tility of resources, his magnanimity, were sorely tried and 
never found wanting." " By his courage, his justice, his 



220 The Civil War 

even temper, . . . his humanity, he stood a heroic 
figure in the center of a heroic epoch." 

What but a hfetime's schoohng in disappointment, what 
but the pioneer's self-rehance and freedom from prejudice, 
what but the clear mind, quick to see natural right and 
unswerving in its purpose to follow it ; what but the steady 
self-control, the un warped sympathy, the unbounded char- 
ity of this man with spirit so humble and soul so great, 
could have carried him through the labors he wrought to 
the victory he attained? 

With truth it could be written, " His heart was as great 
as the world, but there was no room in it to hold the mem- 
ory of a wrong." So, " with malice toward none, with 
charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gave him 
to see the right " he lived and died. We, who have never 
seen him, still feel daily the influence of his kindly life and 
cherish among our most precious possessions the heritage 
of his example. 



O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN! 

O Captain ! my Captain 1 our fearful trip is done, 
The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won, 
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting, 
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring; 
But O heart! heart! heart! 

O the bleeding drops of red. 

Where on the deck my Captain lies, 
Fallen cold and dead. 

O Captain ! my Captain ! rise up and hear the bells ; 
Rise up — for you the flag is flung — for you the bugle trills. 
For you bouquets and ribbon'd wreaths — for you the shores a-crowding, 
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning ; 
Here Captain ! dear father ! 

This arm beneath your head ! 

It is some dream that on the deck, 
You've fallen cold and dead. 

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still, 
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will, 
The ship is anchor'd safe and sound, its voyage closed and done, 
From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won; 
Exult O shores, and ring O bells ! 
But I with mournful tread, 

Walk the deck my Captain lies, 
Fallen cold and dead. 

Walt Whitman. 



INDEX 



Alabama, The, and The Kcarsargc, 

161-172. 
Albemarle, The, 173-179. 
Appomattox Courthouse, 195, 196- 

209. 

Battle hymn of the RepubHc, 2. 
Beauregard, General, 20, 23, 56. 
Bull Run, first battle of, 47-59. 

Conduct of the Soldiers, 136-138. 
Confederate battle flag, 19. 
Confederate Congress, 19. 
Confederate drummer, 47. 
Contributors to this volume. 
Confederate States Army. 
Beauregard, Gen'l G. T., 47-55. 
Harrison, Constance Cady, 

150-161. 
Hill. Lt. Gen'l Dan'l H., 133- 

136. 
Imboden, Brig. Gen'l John D., 

55-59. 120-129. 
Lee, Lt. Gen'l Stephen D., 19- 

27. 
Longstreet, Lt. Gen'l James, 

138-141. 
Wood, John Taylor, C. S. A., 

84-97. 
U. S. Army. 

Badeau, Gen'l Adam, 180-184. 
Cox. Maj. Gen'l Jacob D., ;i6- 

46. 
Franklin, Maj. Gen'l Wm. B., 

136-138. 
Grant, Gen'l U. S., 75-83. 
Lincoln, Abraham, 140-149. 
McClellan, Gen'l Geo. B., 113- 

119. 

223 



Contributors (continued). 
U. S. Army (continued) . 

Porter, Admiral David B., 98- 

112. 
Porter, Maj. Gen'l Fitz John, 

130-133. 
Porter, Gen'l Horace, 196-210. 
Sherman, Gen'l Wm. T., 185- 

196. 
Stone, Brig. Gen'l Chas. P., 3- 

18. 
Wallace, Maj. Gen'l Lew, 60- 

74. 
Cushmg, Lieut., and The Albe- 
marle, 173-179. 

Davis, Jefferson, 56, 57, 158, 159. 
District of Columbia Volunteers, 

12, 18. 
Douglas, Stephen A., 39. 

Emancipation Proclamation, 143- 

146. 
English naval supremacy, 84, 85. 
Enlisting, 29-33, 45. 46. 

Fairfax Courthouse, 57. 
Farragut, Admiral, 99, 103, 106, 

III. 
Fort Donelson, 60-74. 
Fort Johnson, 20. 
Fort Sumter, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 27, 
37, 47- 

Garfield, James A., 40. 
Gettysburg Address, 146, 147. 
Gettysburg, Pickett's charge at, 
180-184. 



224 



Index 



Grant, Gen'l U. S., 63, 66, 69, 75- 

83, 187-190, 196-210. 
Greeley, Horace, 142. 

Hampton Roads, 84, 89. 
Howe, Julia Ward, 2. 

Ironclads, First Fight of, 84-97. 

Jackson, Gen'l, 55, 58, 59, 120-129. 

Kcarsarge, The, 161-1 72. 

Lee, Robert E. 

Estimate of, 138-141. 

Home of, 52. 

Surrender of, 196-210. 
Lincoln, Abraham, 13, 14, 15, 39, 

97, 100, loi, 140-149. 
Lincoln, Assassination of, 210-221. 
Lincoln, Inauguration of, 16, 17. 
Lincoln, Proclamation, 38, 143-146. 

McClellan, Gen'l Geo. B., 102, 113- 

119, 120, 130, 140. 
Merrhnac, The. 84-97. 
Mississippi, Opening of, gS-ii^ 
Monitor, The, 84-97. 

New Orleans, 98, 105, no, 112. 



Northerner and Southerner, 133- 
136, 209. 

Ohio, 36-46. 

Opening of the ^Mississippi, 98-112. 

Peninsular Campaign, 113-119 130- 

141- 
Potomac, the, 114, 116. 

Richmond, Scenes in '62. 150-161. 

Scott, Lt. Gen'l, 4, 5, 6, 14, 48. 
recession, 3. 

Seven days' fighting, 130-141 
Seward, Secretary, loi, 210-221. 
Shenandoah, 120-129. 
Sheridan, Gen'l P. s'., 189, 190 

195, 208. 
Sherman, Gen'l Wm. T., 185-196 
Shiloh, Battle of, 75-83. 
'■ Shoot him on the spot," 28. 
Slavery, 142, 148, 149. 
Strategy of the last year, 185-196. 

" Unconditional Surrender," 69, 72 
Uniforms, 4, 47, 49. 74, 84, 113, 116. 
121. 

Virginia, The, 84-97. 

War preparations, 36-46. 
Washington, D. C.,' 3-18, 14-^c; 
West Point, 47. "^^ -^^' 



im 1 mi 



